Worth a Thousand Words
by FigTreeofyourImagination
Summary: Shadow finds an old album of his brother's memories, and wants nothing more than to pry every story from his twin's brain. Will he get what he wants? Of course! Chapter 10 up, more to come.
1. A Trip Down Memory Lane

_Disclaimers: Sonic and his freakish pets all belong to the Sonic Team and Yuji Naka._

_But everything else is mine._

_This is a revamp of 'House', which no longer exists. Rated for language, flashbacks, zombies, general weirdness, and an eventual insane echidna. I'll warn you now: this may not be the greatest choice for Sonic purists, so don't come complaining to me saying that you don't like it because it's AU._

_Takes place after 'Iron Maiden'._

* * *

WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

CHAPTER ONE: A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

"You know, sibling, you've never told me the story of how you managed to get hooked up with Tails and Knuckles," said Shadow, eyeing his blue furred brother from across the kitchen table.

Sonic gave Shadow a heated glare he reserved only for him. "Shut it," he replied simply. He shifted on his chair, holding his cup of tea close to his face.

The other's discomfort was far from hidden to the black and red hedgehog, who merely smirked and prepared for yet another round of prying into his twin's affairs. "That's a rather pathetic comeback, sibling. It just warrants for a little bit of _prying_."

"Get bent. It's nothing that would involve you, so go stick your pointed noise elsewhere." He took a long drink of his herbal refreshment.

"Don't you insul--"

"Don't you have someone else to pester?" he accused irritably. "Leave me alone."

Shadow huffed snobbishly and stood up, leaving his tea on the table.

"Put away your dishes!" Sonic called after him, taking another drag of his own cup. He frowned and shook his head. It was none of his business, what happened before he had admitted him into this house. Then again, he was naturally nosey. He scowled down the main hall as a distant crash sounded from one of building's countless closets. "What are you doing?" he shouted. He grunted. "Moron."

"I heard that, sibling," retorted the dark hedgehog. He came marching back into the kitchen with a leather bound book in his arms. He set it down with a bang.

"What the Hell is that?" questioned Sonic, squinting at the tome with a green eye.

"It's," Shadow hit the book with both hands, leaning on it, "a photo album."

Sonic thought for moment. Then, "oh… right. One of those. I thought I burned them all." He took a swig of his tea. "Must've missed one."

Shadow sat himself down on his seat, taking up his cup while opening the album to its first page. He squeaked at the first, white-bordered, nearly antique photo he came across. "Ooh, look! It's you!" He pointed and tapped the picture like a four year old. He leaned in.

Sonic scowled at him. "It's ten o-frigging clock at night, Shadow. Put that piece of garbage away and go put yourself to bed."

"This is when you just got the house!" He squinted at the photo, taking a heavy slug of tea out of his insanely small cup. His brother stood in the image's centre, in his old, traditional wear from _way_ back when. Two thigh-length braids, entwined with beads and feathers hung from either side of his head beneath his ears. "Ooh, you still had your braids when they took this! Hey, who's that with you? That's not Core…" There were two humans standing on either side of the blue hedgehog, one was tall, the other was shorter, younger. He recognised neither of them.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Pfft, no," he stated a matter-of-factly. "That's Morgan, the old Director. Core's the shorter one. He was… what? Thirteen then? Maybe twelve." He shrugged and returned to his tea.

"Ooh, the panelling on the house has held up nicely…" commented the darker twin. "You even had a flower bed! Oh, how sweet… What did you do to it? It's not there anymore. Did you burn that, too?" he questioned sarcastically.

Sonic shot him a cold glare. "Maybe. Or perhaps I uprooted them all to feed to you in that sludge you call tea! You dumb parasite."

"Hey! That is a traditional blend of the Sargonians, and it's very refreshing!"

"Feh. Says you. Some blend, it tastes like crap." He slurped back his own tea.

"Humph! Well, I guess you would know!" stung Shadow.

The other just rolled his eyes. "Just put it away."

"Why?" demanded Shadow. "Why can't I peruse through this little treasure here?"

"It's not a treasure," spat the blue hog, scowling. "It's a pile of junk," he snatched it from under his sibling's nose. "And I'm getting rid of it."

"Give that back!" Shadow grabbed the end of the tome as his brother stood up from his chair to dump the album where the sun would never shine on it again. With a yank he tore it back into his possession. "I was looking at it. You can just wait to trash it." He sat back down, making sure to let his ugly expression sink into his brother before turning his attention back to the old album. "So who is Morgan, anyway?"

"Are you serious?" questioned Sonic incredulously. "You don't remember? You're dumber than I thought."

Shadow scowled at him. "I just don't remember, that's all! Perhaps you could be so kind as to remind me."

"You dense clam. He's the one that dug us up and made us see the 'new world'. Then we went ballistic on him. Remember now?"

Shadow tapped the underside of his black nose. He grinned and snapped his fingers. "Oh, yes! I remember now! Ah, good times. Good times." He laughed and shook his head. "That poor man… wonder why he left?"

Sonic snorted, going for another drink, but found his cup empty.

"So tell me the story behind this photo, sibling," reinstated the dark furred mammal.

"What for? Use your imagination," he snapped back, standing up to refill his cup.

Shadow sighed. "I want to know how you got this house!" he argued. "So speak up, you blasted hermit crab of animal!"

"Call me that again and I'll have you wrung out on the neighbour's clothes line," threatened Sonic. "Fine, I'll tell you, but that's it!"

Shadow just grinned to himself, harbouring a small scheme to torment his brother with later.

- - -

"I have no obligations to help you, human."

"Perhaps not," replied the tall man pacing behind him. He was nearly six foot two, with a shade of hair that could rival a ripe plum. "But you will gain freedom for your services."

The much smaller creature sneered from the wooden chair he sat upon. "Freedom? You do not offer me freedom, parasite. It is a mere shadow of what such truly is."

"I merely assume you do not wish to spend the rest of your days in a cryogenic freezer tube," retorted the man smartly. The thing snarled. "I'll take that as a confirmation."

"Don't be so sure, wretch. What are your conditions? I have yet to truly know what you have in store for me and my dignity. I hope you will be leaving my arm where it is this time." The creature lifted his left arm and flexed the five taloned fingers set upon it.

The pacing man grinned. "Not to worry, Azul. You'll be keeping your arm this time."

- - -

"Oh, this is before they changed your name!" commented Shadow. "Did they use your full name?"

"You want to hear this story or not?" sighed Sonic, stirring his new cup of tea with a silver spoon. "Don't interrupt."

- - -

"We will ask you, however, to put some restraints on your abilities."

Azul snorted. "Of course. Your fears drive you just like any other mindless creature of destruction, Morgan." He ground his talons into the wood of the armrests. "What are your demands?"

Morgan didn't pause in his pacings. "Firstly, I ask that you shear your spines."

"They will grow back."

"But I forbid you to sharpen them. I want them to remain blunt and non-offensive." His captive audience growled. "Also, you will leave your staff in our possession--"

"Unthinkable!"

"It will be kept inert beneath this establishment. Under no circumstances will it be removed thence," he continued.

"You intend to render me an ape as useless as yourself?" Azul questioned incredulously. "Your schemes are nothing short of revolting."

Morgan ignored him. "You will also willingly offer your expertise if we come across future threats requiring your knowledge to overcome."

The creature sneered from his seat. "And let me guess. You will be confining me to this cesspool of a 'city' for the remainder of my very long life, I presume? To look after your problems, because you cannot stand to have a force greater than your own thriving along side you?"

"The undead are not meant to thrive."

"On the contrary," argued the other with a toothy grin, "the living dead are made to overthrow the living."

"Which is why you are here," said the tall man pointedly. He marched to the table set before the blue haired being, stopping to stare at the thing straight in the face. "There is an otherworldly presence unlike anything we have ever encountered to date threatening the peace of this city. We, of the I.S.I.D., despite our available resources, cannot seem to make any headway against this element."

"So you wake me from that disgusting little capsule to do your dirty work for you." Azul laughed. "How pathetic. You resort to the power of a former enemy to fix something that is rightfully there. Truly, humans are a marvel of the flow of Chaos."

- - -

"Hm… yes, human beings seem to rival what we were trained and made to do," hummed the dark hedgehog.

"Feh. They're all full of crap," scoffed the other. "That arrogant man… He always drove me up the wall the moment he would open his mouth. Every time. Gods, I'm glad to be rid of him."

"You prefer Core?"

Sonic gave him a sour look. "He's got more sense, if that's what you're trying to imply." He took a long sip of his renewed tea. "The lengths he went to make me miserable…"

"I'm sure Morgan wasn't doing it intentionally, sibling."

"How would you know?"

- - -

"Professor, your patient."

Morgan entered the infirmary with the blue furred creature. Azul took several steps away from the human out of spite, meandering barefoot about the white room with a false staff. The plum haired man let the thing wander, but kept an eye on him as he turned to converse to the scientist stationed before her desk.

Azul, despite his more than obvious disdain for the race of homo sapiens, was quite curious about their ways. After all, he had been asleep for much longer than he would care to admit. Countless glass phials filled with substances he didn't have a clue of identity lined the walls, glittering like liquid gemstones set on sterile shelves. Just what kind of taboo sorcery was this? Organs floating in jars filled with an ugly ochre fluid squatted below the unknown phials, labelled and sealed. Giving a precautionary glance behind his back, he tapped one of the jars, containing a dead animal of some kind, with a sharp, black talon. Getting no reaction, he picked it from the shelf, glaring at it in study.

"Azul!"

The creature clutched the jar protectively. "What?"

"Would you come out here, please?" requested Morgan.

"I'm busy, human!" retorted Azul. He replaced the jar anyway and shuffled out from between the shelves, foot talons clicking against the polyurethane tiles beneath his tattered robes. "What?" he demanded as he approached.

"Azul, this is professor Heroi. She will be shearing your spines," introduced Morgan cheerily.

The mammal peered at the woman with anything but cheer. She wore lenses on her nose and had her hair done up in a black bun behind her head. "Is she, now?" He straightened the braid hanging off his left temple. "What's the matter, Morgan? Can't do it yourself?"

"Not without causing you a great deal of pain," replied the man. "Now, if you will kindly obey professor Heroi's directions we can get this over with and you can start living your new life."

"Who gave you the idea I wanted a new one in the first place?" retorted the creature.

"He is in your capable hands, professor," said Morgan to the white clad woman of science, ignoring the angry being beside him.

The youthful woman gave the creature a careful once-over from overtop her glasses. "I do believe…" she began, "that it would be in his best interest to bathe before the operation."

- - -

"They made you take a bath for that? Oh, that's precious," laughed Shadow.

"Hardy-har-har," sneered Sonic. "At least _I_ got to use shampoo, and not that stinging peroxide antiseptic stuff they used on you."

Shadow stopped laughing.

- - -

Azul took his time on the showers, blocking anyone else who might have needed the facilities from entering until he was finished. He did find, however, that his coat was now considerably brighter, and his braids had a great deal more shine to them. He patted his spines dry, as a small parting incentive. He would miss them, but like he had told that aggravating human, they would grow back.

Unfortunately they wouldn't be as _lethal_ as they were meant to be, and he was sure that Morgan would have a bone to pick with him if he tried to sharpen them behind his back.

- - -

"Do you remember how painful it was to sharpen those things?" questioned Shadow, interrupting his brother's speech.

"Feh. It's one of the few things I do remember," the other consented, taking a drink of tea.

The darker mammal hummed into his cup. "It's not something you forget easily. Mine shattered on my first attempt, if I'm not mistaken." He took another drink. "Took a while to grow them back, I can tell you."

Sonic just snorted. "My head wouldn't stop tingling for a week, but man, I could put those other hot-shots to shame with my spines after the fourth visit to the forge. And now look at them," he said, making the indigo extensions bob behind him with a small shake of his head, "they're soft and useless. They don't even have that black gradient anymore."

- - -

The professor was waiting for him once he finally wandered back to her office. Morgan was long gone it seemed, much to his relief. At least he would have some peace and quiet.

"If you would just step this way," directed the woman amiably, leading the way with a wave of her arm. She lead him to a plushed table rimmed with metal and a bright light suspended above it on a pivoted neck. "Sit there, please," said the professor.

Azul did as he was told, handing the human his replacement staff and battered ceremonial robe before climbing up to sit on the strange furniture. This new room was very neat and tidy; nearly disgustingly clean. It looked as though a bacterium wouldn't stand a chance for more than a minute. Very little adorned the chamber outside the numerous drawers and closets, making the place look spacious, but oddly stifling. If this was the kind of place he was thinking of, it was nearly the exact opposite of what he had been expecting. Where he came from, a healer's tent was always decorated with religious masks and totems to ensure success and chase away any foul spirits that would jeopardise the healer's work.

This was nothing like that, and it didn't make Azul feel very safe. Did these creatures not have any care for the mischievous whiles of the lesser apparitions?

"Lay flat on your front, please."

He did as directed, watching the human carefully. He had no reason to suspect her of any deviousness, and he didn't. He merely watched. After all, one had to learn of their newest acquaintances, for better or for worse, didn't they?

Professor Heroi brought out a plate made of metal, and placed upon it a variety of painful looking instruments. After checking each one, she donned what appeared to be a mask of some kind and a pair of white gloves that went on with a loud snap. She made her way back to the table with the plate of tiny knives, angling the light to her liking above the blue being.

Azul crossed his arms under his nose, waiting for the procedure to start. He'd get Morgan back for this. There were few things that entailed absolute shame to his people, and the purposeful shearing of the spines was one of those things. Of course, those humans didn't know that, nor would they care, he was sure.

But, there was no-one left to take note of such a shame. As far as he knew, all the others were dead. Destroyed in the second conflict.

And what of his brother? He was alive the last time he had seen him, but who knew what had become of him now in this unholy dimension of human beings and jars of dead things.

"Alright," said the professor, resting a gloved hand on his small shoulders, "this will probably sting. It shouldn't take too long, but if you feel anything wrong, please don't hesitate to tell me," she finished.

Azul just huffed a confirmation. She was friendly at least, and seemed to mean well. It helped, but not much.

The tiny knife alighted against the spine jutting from his right shoulder, cutting fairly deep for something so small. The creature didn't so much as flinch. There was little to no feeling in the spines, everyone knew that. That was why his kind utilised them as weapons. They could take a beating without making the wielder black out in pain. But that was only after they were sharpened. Otherwise, they were just as sensitive as anything else. The thin blade cleaved all the way around the first spine, disappearing afterwards. The woman put the blade away and took the extension in her gloved hand. With a few awkward bends and tugs the coloured bone came free with a tearing sound, leaving a pink core of cartilage in its place.

Next went the spine on the other shoulder, then those on the back of his head. With the procedure done, eight spine shells, an indigo blue morphing to a pitch black towards the tips, adorned her tray. Azul sat back up, feeling the cartilage left behind. The extensions, shorn of their hardened shells, flopped weakly from his form, making him feel oddly defenceless.

Oh, he was so going to get Morgan back for this.

- - -

"Did you ever get Morgan back, sibling?"

"No. The dumb fart managed to leave before I could put my revenge into practice," replied Sonic, scowling.

- - -

"Well, Azul. Are you ready?"

"Feh. There is nothing you can conjure that I won't be ready for, human," snorted the blue furred creature.

Morgan grinned to himself.

The talented, straight-backed youth known as Core stood on the other side of the being, passing a glance to the creature from the corner of his eye. Azul could feel the boy's gaze, but pointedly ignored it. He tightened his grip about the false staff. The prune haired ape had his real staff, locked in a black 'suitcase' in his hand.

The three of them stood on the border of what was called the 'Sunny Wing' residential district. Azul scoffed. It didn't look very sunny to him. The sky was an ugly grey, even though it was high noon. A purple haze swirled about below the abnormal could cover.

Of course, he knew that this was far from natural. He had felt the apparitional energies swelling from this place well before they even got there. Well… It seemed as though this had something to do with his new 'job'. "Why are we here, Morgan?" he questioned sourly.

A chill breeze whistled passed the three figures. "This district was meant to open six months ago. The city has spent millions on it."

"And? Tell me something that matters," quipped the spiny creature.

"The point is that people are supposed to be living here. But there has been a rush of aggressive hauntings throughout the district; all of it. The apparitions won't spread from this area, but they won't leave, either."

"Well, then. Just leave it and build some other haystacks for your fickle neighbours."

"We can't do that," said the man. "The city has spent too much on clearing the place to just let it rot. We've tried everything. Exorcists, ghost trap technology… nothing works. There's just too many of them. On top of that we just don't know where they're all coming from."

Azul gave the man a look. "Humph. So you want me to take care of your problem, then? Feh." He started forward, leaving the other two to follow at their leisure.

- - -

"Six months, hm?" mused Shadow. "Well, they certainly waited to wake you back up."

"Pah. They're lucky I wasn't in the mood to fry them all," pouted the blue hedgehog. "Blasted pansies."

- - -

The district went on for what seemed like miles in every direction, spanning forever, lifeless and grey. What an ugly place. Azul hated it.

The humans weren't too far behind him. He cast a quick glance over his small shoulder. Morgan looked rather apprehensive. The young boy, Core, seemed utterly unfazed. He expected nothing less of the young human. He had a flare he had not yet seen in this bizarre species. They already had a connection, the two of them.

He stopped in the middle of the empty street, peering about carefully. A small wind blew from his left, it was much colder than it should have been. …This was not the right weather for such a wind. The heat of the earth was not great enough. Frowning, he made towards chill breath's source, shuffling along with the light click of his staff on the pavement. The creature was going fast enough that the two humans had to start jogging to keep up. Where was that breeze coming from?

There.

He stopped, staring upwards. A huge construction of wood and glass stood before him on a sickeningly healthy lawn of green grass. What human would live in this? How could this monstrosity be a family hut? So… it was here that the trouble was coming from. This… house. He could hear the soft wails of the restless dead. Hundreds… no, _thousands_ of voices. Truly, this city had an infestation beyond the likes that even he had ever seen.

"What is it?" questioned Morgan, having caught up at last.

"Here," said the animal simply. "This is where your problem lies."

"This house?" whispered the youth, more to himself.

Azul was on the ground, ear and hands flat against the asphalt, listening. He hummed to himself, keeping a constant frequency as he moved his taloned hands over the hard road. The two humans were silent behind him.

He stopped humming, pressing his ear against the road as hard as he could. He dusted himself off when he finally picked himself up. "Well, it seems to me that the source of your little ghost problem is fairly straight forward," he announced nonchalantly, straightening his robes.

"Meaning?" pressed the taller man.

"You built this ugly district over a burial ground," he stated flatly, fixing his sleeves. "And it's right under that hideous thing you call a house." He turned to Morgan. "Hand it over, ape."

He cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Give me my staff," he clarified angrily. "I can't fix your pathetic problem without it. Now give it up."

"Try anything funny, and I'll have you back in cryogenics in a heartbeat," cautioned Morgan, setting the wide suitcase down to remove its cargo.

Azul just rolled his eyes. No, he wouldn't try to pull anything, not in front of the boy at any rate. Besides, what would he gain from it? He was not yet strong enough to fully reinstate his true glory. He would have to wait.

"Here." Morgan brought out a warped staff of wood from the black case.

Azul took it from him quickly, tossing the poser staff away. The knotted material welcomed his touch, sending a needed shock through his system, waking every element of his body and soul. He held the staff high, making the stones and wires embedded within it glitter. With a toothy grin he spun on his heel and stalked towards the house, letting the whistles of the dead sing past his ears without a care in the world.

- - -

"Ah, so that's how that happened," said Shadow contemplatively.

"Yep. Pretty uneventful, even for a Thursday, if you ask me," snorted the blue hog.

"So how did you do it? Get rid of the spirits, I mean."

Sonic took a long sip of his dwindling tea. "I didn't get rid of them. With a mob that size…" he shook his head. "Naw. I just sealed them inside the house."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

Shadow waited for some form of continuation. Much to his disappointment, his brother just continued to chug his tea. "That was… this house, wasn't it?"

"Yep."

"There's a burial ground underneath this mansion?" he pressed.

"Yep."

The dark hedgehog leaned back in his chair.

"What? All freaked out? Want to move out?" Sonic teased hopefully.

"Oh, no."

Sonic frowned.

"I was just wondering why the house creaked so much. Well, now I know." He took a drink himself. "Adds a rather exotic flare to the place, don't you think?"

"No."

Shadow glared at him. "At least I now know the reason behind your barricading of the basement," he said pointedly, setting his cup down.

"You didn't figure it out before?" Sonic asked incredulously.

The other ignored him. "I just wanted clarification, that's all."

"Well you got it. Now go to bed." He looked at the clock. "It's after eleven! Ug!" He semi-tossed his tea cup into the sink, marching off to his room in the upstairs.

"Goodnight, sibling!" Shadow called after him.

"Drop dead!" was the reply he received.

Shadow just grinned, stroking the cover of the aging photo album. "I think I've found a new toy…" he hissed to himself quietly.

* * *


	2. Of Trees and Destruction

_Disclaimers: Sonic and his evil clones belong to the Sonic Team and Yuji Naka._

_But all that other stuff is mine._

* * *

CHAPTER TWO: OF TREES AND DESTRUCTION

It was safe to say that Sonic's house didn't possess any alarm clocks. However, everyone still managed to get up at the same time. How? The reason was just waking up now.

"Cereal! Cereal cereal cereal!" chanted Tails as he rocketed down the stairs from his room, squealing like a pig. Three distinct groans sounded from the other bedrooms as the remaining inhabitants were raised from sleep.

Sonic trudged out first, draped in his black housecoat, which was two sizes too big. Knuckles navigated his way to the washroom not too long afterwards, looking like a zombie. Shadow opened his door, stretched cheerily, and started for the lower floor. Sonic scowled at his cheeriness as he reached the kitchen.

"Good morning, sibling," the dark hedgehog greeted.

Sonic sneered sleepily at him, pouring the chanting two tailed fox a generous bowl of 'Lucky Loop Charms'.

"Feeling top of the morning, I see."

"Shut up and feed yourself," retorted the blue mammal.

The red echidna semi-tumbled down the last flight of stairs, not entirely awake. He was fully aware by the time he hit the bottom, though.

"Good morning, Knuckles," greeted Shadow.

Knuckles squinted at him. "Why… are you so happy?…"

Shadow blinked. "I'm always happy in the mornings."

His head seemed to clear. "Oh, its you, Shadow. Sorry, I thought you were your brother for a second."

Sonic shot the anteater a withering glare.

Tails inhaled his cereal like a bottomless abyss. "I wanna go watch TV!" he demanded.

"No," shot the hog of the house. "You have school today."

"But I wanna go watch TV!" bawled Tails as Knuckles sat himself down, the echidna plugging his ears with his fingers.

"I said no! Now go and pick out your show-and-tell thing before I have our cable disconnected!"

The fox quieted and shot up the stairs to his room.

Knuckles pulled his fingers out of his ears with a resounding popping noise. "I thought his classes ended today. It's June."

Sonic snorted from the counter, stirring a mug of something foul. "The freak's not free for another two weeks. That means a bit more peace and quiet for the rest of us."

"For so long as Eebon doesn't call," put in Shadow.

"Shh!" admonished the other. "Don't say his name in this house! You'll call his ignorance down upon us all!"

"You done with the counter?" questioned Knuckles.

"No!" The hedgehog grumbled to himself, clutching at his smelly drink.

The echidna made a face, mimicking his landlord's temperament behind his back with little noises.

Shadow sniggered to himself, sitting down beside the red furred mammal. "Knuckles…"

"Hmm?" he looked over at him, a few lingering rings under his eyes.

"How did you come to stay here?"

"With Sonic?"

"You better not be doing what I think you're doing!" shouted Sonic suddenly, turning to face the two.

"Well that depends, sibling," replied Shadow. "I can't read your mind. Care to enlighten me?"

He scowled at him. "Don't you play smart with me, you ass!" He stalked up to the table, leaving it unguarded. Knuckles wormed from his seat and quickly took over the coffee maker, grinning wide. "You better not be trying to lift off from all that crap last night."

"And what if I am?" countered Shadow, crossing his arms indifferently. "What, pray tell, can you do about it?"

Sonic's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Ooh, don't you _dare_ call down my thunder, Shadow," he hissed.

The other hedgehog wiggled his fingers in the air in mock fear. "Ooh, I'm _sooo_ scared." Sonic gave him another evil scowl. "Really, sibling, you need to let loose a little. You're so uptight you can't even bend to touch your toes."

"I'll say," muttered Knuckles from the counter.

"Shut it, bug-breath!" snapped Sonic.

"Don't call your peers names," scolded the dark twin. "You'll cause serious psychological damage."

"What makes you think he already hasn't?" commented Knuckles dryly, taking a long whiff of his bag of caffeinated beans

"If I have then I've achieved my lifelong goal," replied the blue twin. "If you can't take the heat, get out of my kitchen."

"That's a rather unimaginative line, Sonic."

"Do you honestly think I care? Tails!" he shouted. "Hurry up with your toy! We're leaving!"

There were multiple bangs from upstairs.

"Is there anything you want me to do while you two are gone?" questioned Knuckles politely.

"Hm?" Sonic peered at nothing. "Why?"

"You two are spending the day out, right? You planned it all yesterday."

"Getting senile, Sonic?" jeered Shadow.

"Clamp it, scum," retorted Sonic. "I merely forgot."

"Senile…"

"Would you shut up! You can pick up groceries," he continued to the red mammal. "But only the basics, anything else, and you'll be hearing from me about it. I've got it written down on the counter somewhere."

"What does it matter what I pick up?" demanded the echidna, tiring of the continuous threats and insults. He found the list and went over it.

"Because, I won't have you wasting my money on things that will never be used in this house! Like granola bars and that Shake 'n' Bake crap you always go one about."

"Hey! It's easy cooking! Instant! Painless!"

"Oh, painless?" questioned the blue animal. "I beg to differ. Have you ever actually tried that stuff? It's got so many chemicals in it that you can't taste anything else."

Knuckles gave him a peeved look. "It tastes fine."

"Feh. Says the culinary horror master," scoffed Sonic.

Tails came shooting down the stairs with a whale toy.

"Going to show everyone your whale, Tails?" asked Shadow amiably, pulling on his shoes at the front door.

"It's a submarine!" corrected Tails loudly, shoving the plastic thing into the darker mammal's face to prove his point. What had once been a polyurethane sperm wale was painted black with felt marker, its fins brutally removed to semi-streamline the rest of the long body.

Shadow cringed. "Ah… I see…"

Sonic shoved his way to the front door. "Feh. Destroying your toys, Tails? That poor whale."

"It's a submarine!" shrieked the fox freak. "SUBMARINE!"

Sonic just laughed at the youth's anger. "Whatever, freak. Get outside."

Tails zoomed through the door to the front lawn, flying his mutilated sperm whale about in front of him as he ran, making plane noises.

Shadow came to the realisation that he hadn't eaten. "I'll be right with you, sibling, I just need to grab a few crackers for the walk."

Sonic stopped him. "Screw that, you lummox. You didn't feed yourself fast enough, so tough luck. You can wait to eat."

"See ya," Knuckles waved as Shadow was hauled from the kitchen by his brother.

The hog of the house stepped outside, nearly tripping over the morning paper. Growling furiously, he picked the tube of recycled material from his front step, walked back inside, and hurled the compacted news into the kitchen.

The red echidna looked up to find a tube of depressing reality flying straight for his face. In his panic he spilt his morning cup of coffee and got smacked in the arm by the news. "Ow! Would you watch it!" he cursed.

Sonic just laughed like the sadist he was, dragging his fraternal twin out onto the sidewalk with him.

With the two tailed fox skipping joyously out in front, the three furry beings made their way, by foot, to the St. Jerome's Grade School for Anthropomorphs. Sonic owned a car, at the nagging request of his brother, but almost never used it. The last time he decided to utilise its carbon-guzzling power, it was to take the four actors to the local theme park. Easily, it was amongst the more horrible experiences of his life, leading to a nasty encounter with a crazed computer, a stalled rollercoaster, and an eventual night of festering in some underground cavern under the watch of a swarm of cultist nerds.

He had told Tails that he had sold the thing, and for as long as he believed it, he would never have to take the freak to any theme park ever again. Besides, he needed the exercise. Cars were ugly and loud and disturbed more than just the locals. He may not be very fond of walking, but it was better than what an automobile dredged up. Of course, he'd much rather just phase himself wherever he wanted to go, but his sadistic health nut of a twin would no longer let him since he moved in. Yet another reason to add on to his long list of things he hated about his brother.

"Lost in a mist of bitterness, sibling?" broke in Shadow.

Sonic snorted. "Do I do anything else?"

He shook his head. "Not as far as I know."

Tails span around as he walked, miraculously not stepping onto the road not too far from him. He continued to fly his brutalised toy about the air space in front of him.

"He treats that thing more like a plane than a ship," mused the darker hedgehog.

"So? He treats Knuckles' toolbox like a treasure trove of chew toys. Same dif," dismissed the other. "Let him wallow in his ignorance while it lasts."

"You still believe that ignorance is bliss?"

"It would be a Hell of a lot better than what I've got now."

Shadow just shook his head.

The three reached the school just as the first bell began to ring. Tails, without so much as a goodbye, sprinted off towards the edifice of education, holding his poser submarine out ahead of him like a missile.

"He didn't bring his school bag, did he?" said Shadow suddenly, standing before the school's yard.

Sonic considered this. "Nope. Didn't see him grab it." He turned away and started for whatever destination he had planned yesterday.

His twin gave him an awkward look before following after him. "You didn't think to remind him?"

"Look, it's not my problem," defended the blue hog. "It's his school work. If he can't keep track of it, then he's obviously not meant to keep up with his peers."

"That's cruel, and you know it."

"Shut it and walk."

"I'll walk but I won't be quiet, sibling. Tails is your responsibility--"

"What?" Sonic spun around to face his red striped twin. "That _thing_ is not my responsibility."

"Then why is he living in your home?" he asked pointedly.

"Because those idiots at the Institute put him there. It's not my fault that no-one else will take him. I case you haven't noticed, brother, I don't do anything for anyone that lives under my roof, not Tails, not Knuckles, not even you. I look after myself and myself alone. It's something I would think you'd have realised by now."

"Humph. You need a lesson in consideration for others," snorted Shadow snobbishly.

"What the Hell for?" retorted Sonic, walking backwards.

"You impose on everyone else in your house your rules, and you do nothing for them in exchange for bending to your ways."

"Don't you give me any of that, you dimwit! You'd do the exact same thing if you were in my place, and you know it."

Shadow was silent at this, merely shooting his brother a heated glare instead.

"Stop being such a hypocrite. I can read you like a book."

The other crossed his arms in a pout.

The two hedgehogs continued on their walk, trudging towards the centre of Studio City.

Shadow, unlike his brother, wasn't fond of silence. He preferred small talk to quiet any day, and his sibling wasn't the most ideal person to fulfill that want by any means. But he would have to make do. "Sibling, I have another question for you."

Sonic groaned.

"How did Tails get stuck with you?"

"Stuck with me? On the contrary, I was stiffed with him."

There was a spell of silence. Then, "well? Care to elaborate?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Why do you insist on pestering me? You don't need to know this stuff, it does not concern you."

"To a degree, it does. After all, I live amongst your so-called 'parasitic' peers as well; as you so lovingly call them."

"You do realise that includes you, yes?"

Shadow scowled at him. "Just humour me for once and tell me!"

"No! I already told you one useless story!"

"Sibling, if you don't spill the beans I'll beat them out of you," he threatened calmly.

"Oh? With what? A stick? Please."

"Don't you start. To use your idiom from this morning, don't call down _my_ thunder."

"Ha!" laughed Sonic. "Yeah, right! You don't have a thunder!"

Shadow just glared at him venomously. "Oh, believe me, brother, _I_ have thunder. It's just not as flashy as yours."

Sonic just waved him off. "Pfft. Sure. Whatever, man."

"This would be so much easier if you would just answer my question like a civilised being."

"Pah. Being civilised is overrated."

He groaned. "Just tell me!" He thought up a new strategy. "Tell me! Tell me tell me tell me tell me te--"

Sonic clutched at his ears. "ALRIGHT! Alright, I'll tell you! Sheesh! You blithering goose call!"

Shadow gave him a smug smirk.

"I hope you burn."

"If I do, you do too."

"You're such a frigging juvenile."

- - -

It was late spring. Sonic stalked about his house like the possessive owner he was, draped in a thick, heavy house robe that was a few sizes too big. He held a cup of steaming tea under his nose, trying to keep himself awake in the relatively late hour of the morning.

He had been there for five years now, under the watchful eye of the I.S.I.D. He hated it. He hated being cooped up in such a small range of probable domination. 'Probable' because he could do nothing to make it a reality. And just what good was ruling over a city of apes if you couldn't take hold over their pathetic country too, anyway? Sonic was generally never one for world rule, but it was the only thing capable of entertaining his mind these days. It was deathly boring here.

The hedgehog reached his secondary living room, leaning bodily against the sliding window that lead to his backyard lawn with his head. With his forehead pressed firmly against the clear pane he sipped absently at his tea, looking anything but ready to face the day.

His backyard was a spacious one. But it was quite bland. It was essentially a fenced span of grass, with a single, common apple tree in the dead centre. He hated that tree. Every time he looked at it all he could see was red. There was something about that overgrown vegetable, with all its shiny, red apples and scratchy bark. He scowled at the tree. He could almost _feel_ it sneer back at him.

His eyes narrowed.

That tree was going _down_.

- - -

"That's incredibly sad," remarked Shadow, cutting his brother off.

Sonic crossed his arms in indifference, marching carelessly down the sidewalk, making the other people move out of the way around him. "What would you know? I bet _you've_ never encountered an evil apple tree before."

"Apple trees aren't evil, Sonic. Unless it was a crab apple tree. Those can be just plain malicious."

"See? Now shut up and listen."

- - -

It wasn't that Sonic hated trees. It was just that he hated the tree in his backyard; with a vengeance. He didn't know what it was, but the oversized broccoli just got on his nerves. A lot.

He rifled through his more destructive possessions on the upper floor, determined to be rid of the thing by lunch. The blue hog grinned in maniacal glee at the instrument he found amongst his dusty collection of chaotic artefacts.

He sped down his stairs with his new toy.

- - -

"Running with such things is dangerous, sibling."

"Shut. Up."

- - -

Sonic stood before his backyard tree, grinning wider than the Cheshire Cat. He hefted his weapon, a rather mean looking chainsaw, high above his head. The dim sun shone dramatically behind him as he pulled the chord that would bring the toothed beast to life. With a thunderous, unnatural chough and roar the two handed machine came awake, its voice of destruction ringing throughout the neighbourhood.

With a laugh that could put Vincent Price to shame, Sonic went for the trunk.

- - -

"And just what does this have to do with you meeting Tails?"

Sonic rubbed his face. "Do you want to hear the story or not?"

"Will you get to the point?"

The blue twin glared at the other. "As if you could tell a better story! You have trouble reading a child's book convincingly!"

Shadow went pale under his coat of black and red. "Who… how…"

Sonic grinned evilly. "I saw you in the Institute once, trying to read 'The Cat in the Hat' to a bunch of four year olds."

"You… did?"

Sonic started laughing. "Yes! Ha! It was the most pathetic display of dramatic reading I ever had the luck to hear!"

Shadow looked crushed. It wasn't that he couldn't read, far from it, he was actually a very accomplished reader. He tried to save face in his brother's mirth at his expense. "Well, those brats didn't know good improvisation even when they heard it. The pages were missing, so I had to do something."

"You made them cry! Oh, Gods!" Sonic stumbled about in his merriment, nearly knocking into the legs of passers by.

"Stop that."

"Oh, I can still here them! Screaming as you read 'so that nasty cat in the hat, put those naughty kids in a boiling vat'!" He leaned against the nearest wall for support, his knees shaking with every round of laughter. The hedgehog looked as though he was going to lose a lung.

Shadow tried very hard to resist the urge to throttle his twin.

Sonic slowly regained himself. "Ah ha… Anyway…"

- - -

The sound of chainsaw teeth cutting into aging wood rent through the neighbourhood, making those more inclined towards the wellbeing of their greeny friends tremble.

Sonic was having the time of his life. It had been a long while since he had destroyed anything, and man did it feel good. Apples were falling all around him. His train of destruction was abruptly cut short however, as something very large suddenly fell on top of him, knocking him to the ground. His chainsaw went flying from his grasp, vibrating along the lawn as it continued to run on its carbonated fuel. It vibrated for freedom, heading straight for the fence at a snail's pace.

The chaotic hedgehog shifted woozily under the lead weight that now occupied the immediate space on his chest. Shaking his head, he peered at the odd lump of what almost appeared to be wheat sitting on top of him. He slowly began to lose his steel nerve as he noticed that a big, watery pair of blue eyes was staring him down.

A white muzzle and a small black nose came into focus as well, framed by a big head toped with large, pointy ears. Two tails waved excitedly behind it. Sonic gawped. The thing squealed. "Daddy!"

- - -

"Oh, my."

Sonic groaned. "Yes. That was how that started." He shuddered, making a sick noise. "And I don't want to talk about it any more."

"Well… It least I now know why there's such a large patch of brown in your backyard. That's where the tree used to be, I suppose."

The two rounded a corner, turning into the vast property of the infamous Institute of Supernatural Interaction and Defence. Sonic made a face as they trudged up the walkway.

Shadow kept a straight poise as he followed his sibling, mulling over the new collection of information he had attained from his brother's internal store of strange tales. He still very much wanted to hear the rest. Too bad his brother had to stop just when it was getting interesting. It was just like him.

Of course, he started to rub his hands together with a grin, he could always pry the rest of the story out of someone else… And he knew just who to pester. He giggled evilly to himself as they continued forward, his brother blissfully oblivious to his vile schemes.

* * *

_We have a crab apple tree in our backyard... and it's evil. It drops so many apples each year, we can't see our lawn._


	3. A Hole in the Floor pt1

Disclaimers: Sonic and his collection of mutant furballs all belong to the Sonic Team and Yuji Naka.

But everything else is mine.

Sorry for the incredibly late update, it's all the holidays' fault. That's right. But because it was so late, you all get two chapters for this week. Enjoy.

Just to lessen any confusion, stories and falshbacks will now be done in italics.

* * *

CHAPTER THREE: A HOLE IN THE FLOOR - pt1

Knuckles was happy to have the house to himself. He sipped at his coffee, having more or less patted himself dry with a few feet of paper towel after his landlord had made him spill his beloved coffee all over himself. He sat on the counter, as was his dirty habit, swinging his legs and reading the classifieds. "Mmm…" he hummed into his coffee mug, looking over an ad for a catering position at the local restaurant. Sure, he couldn't cook for his life, but he had a great memory. He had no doubts that he could pull off being a waiter, no prob.

An odd creaking sounded from the hallway. The echidna looked up from his paper, stilling his short legs. He listened carefully, his mug poised before his face. The sound did not repeat.

He shifted uncomfortably. If there's one thing he hated about Sonic's house, it was the creepy noises it made whenever he wasn't around, as if it were pining for him to return. He knew very well what resided deep within the semi-mansion's make, after all, he had come face-to-face with just what caused all the noise once. It had been two years ago today, when it happened. Gee… It all was still as clear as if it were yesterday.

He shook his head. He didn't like reminiscing about past things like that, especially when they involved his landlord.

Another creak, slightly louder than the last, sounded from the hallway.

Knuckles glanced uneasily at the clock. The brothers had only been gone for twenty minutes.

A third creak.

The red echidna wasn't liking the implications of this. The house never made this much noise, not since _then_. He hopped down from the counter, moving slowly, keeping a sharp eye out. He quickly rummaged through the drawers beneath the sink, pulling out a sizable frying pan with more than enough dents in it. Feeling somewhat safer, he hoisted himself back onto the counter with the burnt piece of cookware grasped tightly in his hand, and continued to read the newspaper.

- - -

"I hate this place," grumbled Sonic.

Shadow merely shrugged.

The two hedgehogs stood before the massive edifice that was the I.S.I.D.

"And why are we here, sibling?" inquired the dark twin.

Sonic shot him a customary glare. "Oh? You don't remember? You have a worse memory than I do."

"That's not true and you know it, you old fart. All I know is that we're here for you, and I have apparently been dragged with you for no particular reason. Care to tell me just why you have stolen me from what could otherwise be a great day?"

Sonic squinted at nothing. "You talk too much," he said simply, starting for the doors.

"Wha? Come back here! You didn't answer my question!"

Sonic just smirked, letting his brother follow him in blindly.

- - -

Knuckles was starting to get really freaked out. He passed another glance to the overhead clock. It had now been forty minutes since the brothers had taken Tails to school.

The house was creaking and making all sorts of noises like nobody's business, and it was no thanks to this fact that the red anteater was shaking so bad he couldn't finish his coffee. He still had his frying pan, though, which made things a little bit better.

He had learned on that one fateful night that cookware of any kind could serve as a marvellous set of armour and weapons for someone his size. But it had been over a year since he had last swung a frying pan in self-defence, and he was a little rusty. Since he wasn't entirely up to form, he thought of the next best way to get himself out of what he was sure would turn into something nasty by dinner time, which was a fairly regular occurrence in this house, and that was to go shopping.

Knuckles wasn't a coward, per-se, he just had more of an inclination to stay away from trouble in general. He hopped off the counter, frying pan in hand, and shuffled cautiously towards the front door. The house creaked and groaned ominously as he made his way to the line of shoes before the exit. Keeping his sharp eyes peeled for any sign of… anything, he slipped on his metal-shod shoes and grabbed a set of house keys from the quaint key hanger above the collection of footwear.

With a sigh he reached over and opened the front door. Fresh, morning air swirled past the door, making Knuckles feel a lot better. A nice walk outside would do him some good. He smiled and took a step towards the outside.

Quicker than lightning the front door slammed itself shut before the echidna could so much as blink. Bewildered, Knuckles seized the doorknob in attempts to reopen the portal of wood. The bulb of metal shook and rattled in his grasp but did not turn. The door was stuck.

A huge groan of wood sounded throughout the house, making the place sound as if it were a sinking ship.

He spun in place, looking for anything that could signal trouble. What was going on? A skittering sound wove through the walls. Knuckles knew that there was no cockroach known to man that could survive in Sonic's house if he didn't want it there; something weird was going on, and he didn't want to find out what it was until _after_ Sonic and Shadow got back.

The echidna reached for the doorknob again, determined to get outside. He yelped as his gloved hand alighted against not cool metal, but what felt like burning coal. Hissing, he pulled his hand away quickly, waving it in the air to diminish the sting of injury. Alright… so he couldn't leave. He turned around. "What the-?" The wall to his left was _ballooning_. The echidna quickly wormed back into the kitchen, hiding behind the counter as the bubble of plywood steadily grew and finally exploded. A horde of black bodies, small and winged, poured from the hole in a gush of something foul-smelling and wet. The haze swept past his hiding place in a hissing rush, breaking into multiple parts to invade the rest of the house.

Knuckles sat very still with his frying pan, all notions of getting groceries gone. What were those things? Sonic didn't leave the country again, did he? No, he wouldn't… or at least, Shadow wouldn't let him.

The sounds of the new invaders crashing into things rang throughout the house. A new problem rose in his mind. If Sonic came back and the house was a mess… he'd never hear the end of it. In fact, he'd be lucky to be let off with a boot to the curb. Sonic was a vengeful character on the best of days and his temper was something to behold. He had to fix this.

The scarlet anteater cautiously poked his head over the rim of the counter, cringing at the ugly sore left behind from the entry of the fog of… whatevers. "Gross…" he gurgled. The hole was all wet, and looked just a bit too much like a freshly popped boil. Turning a mild shade of green he turned his attention to the living room. He cringed a second time. There must have been at least twenty of those things in there, hanging from the walls. They were making weird noises, faces turned towards the plaster. Weird, red stains were blooming where their faces touched against the walls. Whatever the heck was going on, it looked anything but healthy. He had to stop it.

Reluctantly, Knuckles steeled his nerves. He quickly dug around the cupboards a second time, pulling out a sizable pot with a handle, and placed it on his head like a helmet. He stood up, gripping the stained frying pan tightly. Just like old times. He gagged. He never thought he'd have to relive that day.

Edging out from the kitchen, he quickly had the things in his sights. Readying his chosen weapon like a baseball bat, he let out a seldom used battle cry and lunged.

- - -

"Sibling! Slow down!"

Sonic finally stopped in the doctor's office, in the medical wing of the Institution, grinning like a devil. "What's the matter, Shadow? Out of breath? Looks to me like you need to get more exercise."

"Poppycock! I get twice as much exercise as you! And willingly!" retorted Shadow.

"Feh. Say what you like, but I know better."

"Do you, now? You're full of it, Sonic!" He crossed his arms in a pout, turning up his nose like the snob he was. He finally took notice of his surroundings. "…Where are we?" he asked seriously, a small knot forming in his stomach.

"Good morning, you two. I'm surprised you showed up, Shadow," said a voice from behind them.

Both hedgehogs turned to face the speaker. Core, the current I.S.I.D. Director, gave them a curt nod.

"Me? Showing up?…" Shadow squinted at nothing. "…Why…?" He gave a heated glare to his twin. "What did you do?"

Sonic just grinned, sniggering to himself.

"Speak up! Why did you bring me here?"

Sonic started laughing. "I never thought you'd fall for it, Shadow. If you had half the memory you claim to, you would have realised that today is when you…" he paused for effect, "get to see the _doctor_."

Shadow went white. "Oh, no no no NO!" he shouted miserably. "I refuse to have a physical! You can all wallow in rot for all I care!" He stalked off towards the exit.

Sonic laughed harder, enjoying every moment of his brother's unhappiness.

"Would you shut up!" screamed Shadow, reaching for the door handles. The wood promptly warped at his touch, rendering itself immobile. He tried the door anyway, pulling on the handles with both hands. "Dammit, Sonic! Open this door!"

The blue hog was on the floor. "What's the matter, Shadow? Afraid of needles?"

"You stop that, you uncivilised beast!"

Core merely shook his head as Shadow pounced on his twin. The two then proceeded to tear and bite at each other, screaming curses and swearwords in a language he didn't even remotely understand.

He retired to a chair, waiting for the fight to stop.

The receiving foyer of the health wing was made entirely of mahogany, with red carpets and cushioned chairs spaced all about it. It didn't have that sterile, creepy look that normal doctors' offices generally supported. This get-up usually made the patients more comfortable, or in a case like Shadow's, totally oblivious as to where they actually were. Shadow hated going to the doctor. Why, he had no clue. He threw more of a fuss over getting a simple check up than Sonic did over someone egging his house.

After a few more minutes of general violence a white clad fellow with glasses and a clipboard came through the side door. He took one look at the fight taking place on the rug, then at his papers, then back at the brawl. "Er… Shadow Hedgehog?" he called out carefully.

The two giant rodents stopped instantly. Sonic had his brother by the leg. "Right here, doc," he said, holding the limb up for clarification.

"You traitor!" cursed the other. "Let me go!"

"Time to go get your rabies shot, dear brother," he sneered.

"I resent the sarcasm, sibling."

"If you're good, maybe he'll give you candy."

"Would you be quiet!" Shadow thrashed, finally worming free of Sonic's grasp. He stood up in a huff, dusting himself off. He stalked towards the doctor, scowling. "Let's get this over with," he muttered.

Sonic remained on his rump on the carpet, grinning like a possessed clown. He started laughing a second time once his twin was out of earshot. "Whaha! What a coward!" He clutched at himself, slowly rolling in a tight circle as he kicked his legs out in mirth. "Ooh, that was a Kodak moment! Ha!"

The steely eyed Director merely waited for the other to calm down, running a hand through his short, semi-buzz-cut hair. "Are you finished?" he asked at length.

"Wait," replied Sonic. He gave out one last round of rancorous laughter before falling quiet. "Ah… that was good. Made my day all that much better." He sniggered on the floor.

"Well, you've managed to fool Shadow into coming to the doctor's once again, though I'm sure he's going to start keeping better track of these things now. It won't be so easy then."

"Oh, psshh!" Sonic waved a hand dismissively. "My brother is a total fruit. He won't remember. I could pull this stunt off on him for a hundred years and he'd never get the hint. He's really dense that way."

Core made no comment.

"What's the mater with you, Core? Laugh! It's funny! My brother deserves to be made a fool of."

"Sonic, I have something of grave importance to discuss with you," he said flatly.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Oh, sure… Ruin the moment. What is it now, Core? An army of a million flying monkeys are headed this way and you need me to stop them for you?"

"Sonic--"

"Or is it another rush of booger people stemming from the noses of the world's brats?"

The big man sighed heavily. "No, Sonic. It has the potential to be much worse than that."

"Then what is it already?" quipped the hog. "Spill the beans! I have better things to do than listen to your petty fears."

Core passed a glance about the room.

"We're alone, if that's what you're wondering," supplemented Sonic.

The Director arched an eyebrow. "Do you recall, Sonic, when you divulged to me the… terms, let's say, of your… _contract_?"

Sonic's emerald eyes narrowed dangerously. "Yes… What about it? …I assume you're not referring to Morgan's requests."

"No." He paused. "I've taken the liberty of looking into the general timeline that this… agreement you and your brother have taken runs on. It seems as though a due date of some kind is coming up--"

"Don't you start worrying yourself over this, Core," broke in the blue mammal.

"But Sonic--"

The hedgehog put up a hand, silencing the man. "This is between me, my brother, and the second party involved. We are fully aware of the cycles and know how to deal with them. You just keep your nose where it won't hurt you. If there just happens to be something that we would need your help in dealing with, we'll tell you." He fell silent, instantly ending the conversation.

The Director remained motionless and expressionless.

With the hedgehog staring angrily at the opposite wall, Core thought it a fair idea to check up on Shadow, make sure he wasn't terrorising the medical personnel. "I assume you will be waiting here?" he inquired as he got up.

Sonic just shrugged, laying back on the carpet.

Taking that as some form of confirmation, he left for the examination rooms.

- - -

"YYYAAAAAAHHHHH!!"

Knuckles flew from the kitchen like a flightless bird, his frying pan of pain held high over his head.

The ugly intruders didn't know what hit them as a third of their number was instantly smashed against the walls with the blackened piece of cookware, exploding into clouds of ash. Shrieking and screaming the things tore their faces from the plaster they had been making a meal of and made a break for it, unfurling their leathery wings and flying about the living room in blind panic, unsure of what the threat actually was. Those who were too slow got panned like their comrades by the crazed echidna.

With most of the things in the air, Knuckles began to swing his weapon of choice about madly. His swing was so hard that those he did manage to hit were sent careening into the nearest obstacle, bursting into lifeless grey ash upon impact. The anteater looked about the room as he swung haphazardly. The walls had been pocked by the creatures' teeth, leaving ugly sores on the plaster. The little holes looked as though they were _bleeding_.

Getting the general idea that the funny-looking giant dressed in silverware was what was causing them so much pain, the impish beings made for the stairs, flying up to the upper levels, shrieking and chittering.

"Oh no you DON'T!" shouted Knuckles, barrelling after the panicking imps. "Get back here! I will NOT be held responsible for your MESS!" He continued to swing his pan, smacking several of the retreating imps into the afterlife. He had a powerful arm and an awesome aim, and he wasn't afraid to use either. "GGHHAAAAHHH!"

The imps upstairs had gotten the alert that something was wrecking their fun.

As he reached the top of the stairs, a cloud of the black bodies flooded out from Shadow's bedroom, heading straight for him. With a light gasp he was overtaken by the mob. He swung his pan blindly in the midst of the fog of living forms, taking out several of his foes as they rushed past.

The swarm was heading for Sonic's room. Knuckles jumped to the attack, hoping to herd them away. Man, he would be facing even worse things from his landlord if he let his room get invaded by a bunch of freakish bat-things. "Get away from tthhheeerrreeee!"

Smack! Ten of the remaining imps flew headlong into the door of Sonic's chambers by way of the miraculous frying pan, decomposing to ash on contact. The swarm span in circles, trying desperately to avoid the killer instrument of frying goodness. As the echidna continued to pick off the stragglers the survivors made the collective decision to fly for the nearest open door, which happened to be that to Knuckles' room. Chittering for dear life they went for this chance of possible escape, the crazed anteater hot on their bare tails.

Knuckles grinned in spite of himself. His room only had one window and a door. The window was closed, and if he closed his door the things would be trapped.

The swarm flooded into the echidna's room, realising too late what they had gotten themselves in to. The door shut behind them. The imps turned around collectively, spying their enemy standing before their only means of freedom. Knuckles brandished his pan. "You are all going _down_…"

- - -

Shadow pouted on the papered examination table. He hated the doctor's. He hated it even more than he did his twin, and that was saying a lot. His doctor was busy fiddling with some files in the corner of the room, humming and hawing to himself.

The dark hedgehog didn't like going for check-ups of any kind, let alone a full physical. He had always disliked doctors of all kinds. Witchdoctors, healers, nurses… it didn't matter what form, he didn't like anything even remotely similar to a doctor.

A light knock sounded at the closed door to the white prison. "Who is it?" questioned the distracted doctor. He opened the door. "Oh! Director, I wasn't expecting you!"

"Hello, doctor, mind if I come in?"

"Not at all!" He let the blonde man inside. "Here to observe, sir?"

"More or less," he replied.

"I see, well, please make yourself at home." He went back to looking over his files.

Shadow looked at the Director, then at the man in white, then back again. "Come to mock me, Core?" he questioned lightly with a smirk.

"No, Shadow. That, as far as I'm concerned, is your brother's job," replied Core. "I'm here to make sure nothing _happens_." He gave the hedgehog knowing look.

"Oh, Core, you know better than to expect such things of me," he pouted.

The big man merely grinned. "Is that so? From what I've seen before now, I'd beg to differ."

"Say what you like." He thought for a moment. "Say, Guinness…"

"Hmm?" Core wasn't fond of others using his first name, but he was in no position to argue the point with a creature like Shadow.

"How did Sonic get Tails and Knuckles as roommates?" he inquired. If he couldn't get straight answers out of his brother, then he'd weasel them out of his 'colleagues'.

"Tails has been with Sonic for two years longer than Knuckles had been, and they both had the… fortune, or misfortune… of living under the same roof as your brother for different reasons." He stood as straight as a board near the chairs. The doctor was still busy looking over the data he had gathered from the red striped hedgehog.

"Then what's Tails' story? All I know is that my boring sibling tried to take a chainsaw to his backyard tree and the mutant fell on him. He wouldn't tell me anything else, care to elaborate for me, Director?"

Core looked at the creature. Shadow had that smirk on his face that just guaranteed he would get what he wanted, or everybody else would pay for it. He sighed. "Well, to make a long story short, Sonic called us up to take his 'find' to the Institute…"

- - -

"_Core, if you don't get your butt over here and get rid of this thing, I'll personally blow this pathetic excuse of a city sky high!" shouted Sonic into the receiver of his kitchen phone. He shook his right leg as he spoke, trying to dislodge the freakish being that had latched itself to his leg._

_The thing squealed against his shin. "Daddy!"_

_The man on the other side of the line could hear strange noises rising from the background. "Sonic, just what is it that you found? Have you perhaps thought that all you might need is the City Pound?"_

"_Do you think I'm stupid?" he questioned incredulously, clearly at the end of his very short rope. "Despite what you must think, I can tell the difference between human-borne vermin scum and a freak of nature. Don't make me ask again; get down here and get rid of it."_

"_Sonic," he honestly didn't have the energy for this right now, "is this 'thing' hurting you in any way?" Silence. "I thought so. Look, just wait for a bit; we're very busy right now, and we need time to recalibrate our staff--"_

"_Oh no you don't! You are not giving me the short stick on this, Core! Sure, it may not have made an attempt on my life yet, but I can assure you that this thing is a menace to my health!"_

"_Daddy!" squealed the thing._

"_Shut up, you!"_

_Core blinked. "I didn't say anything."_

"_Not you, you ape! This thing here! It won't leave me alone! It keeps calling me 'daddy'!"_

_The Director had to hold his breath to keep from laughing. He quickly recomposed himself. "It's… calling you… daddy?" He snorted in mirth despite his steeled training._

"_Are you laughing at me?" he demanded dangerously. "You had better not be, Core! I know where you live!"_

_The thing put in its two cents. "Daddy!"_

"_Would you be quiet!"_

- - -

"And that continued for a fair while," said Core, rubbing his face. "It was a draining experience; as talking to Sonic over the phone usually is."

"Hmm," hummed the dark hedgehog. "Please continue, I'm anxious to hear more." He rubbed his hands together in scheming anticipation.

- - -

_The thing was a Tasmanian Devil of an animal. The detainers were dealing with more than what they bargained for with the little two-tailed beast. It wasn't harming anyone at least, but it was loud, obnoxious, and rather destructive. Just exactly what it actually was causing the Institute's supernatural scientists more than just a headache._

_The thing, flying about the ceiling around the halogen lights, was some kind of mutant. It appeared to be a fox of some kind at first glance, but it was nearly three feet tall, stood on its back legs, and had two tails, which it was somehow using to give it the power of flight. At least most present were taking comfort in the fact that it hadn't seemed to take up on some pigeon-like behaviour. "Me want Daddy!" it shrieked as it flew in tight circles below the ceiling, knocking into the lights._

"_We can't catch it, sir!" wheezed one of the detainers, looking very red in the face._

_Core gazed at their catch with grey eyes. This little creep had managed to avoid capture for study since the moment they had brought it in. For two long hours it had stayed aloft, swerving and twirling out of reach of every passive containment tool they had developed to date. On top of that, it was continuously chanting 'I want Daddy'. What was it talking about? Nothing else had fallen from the tree in Sonic's yard. Was it truly referring to the angry hedgehog? Why? The thing was well beyond the stage of defining the first thing it sees as its parent. Of course, the man knew that it took a lot more than that to truly define a parent figure, but still; why him? Sonic had never interacted with the creature before now as far as he could tell. Perhaps it hadn't encountered any beings it considered a parental figure before now? And how did it already know English? Its language skills were broken at best, but certainly better than what most humans could attain by what they were sure to be its age._

_It was all rather confusing, and intriguing. This was a unique specimen amongst the known _anthropomorpae_ family, and was already raising a few eyebrows amongst the board. Some were getting suspicious that Sonic's unorthodox ways of life and supernatural nature had somehow influenced the creature's growth, causing the mutations. There were also some that argued that this was simply another case of radioactive poisoning affecting a genetic line. Whatever the case, they would never find out until they caught it and put it on an examination table. The thing wouldn't be harmed, but if they didn't catch it soon, they would have to resort to more active methods of capture. The Board wanted answers ASAP, and they were never fond of waiting under any circumstances._

"_Daddy daddy daddy daddy daddy!" screamed the thing, making them all cringe. They had to get the thing to calm down and they were out of ideas._

_Core thought for a moment. Maybe they could get Sonic to help them. It wasn't a very good, or safe, idea, but it was either that or bring out the narcotics._

- - -

"Ooh, I like this story," grinned Shadow, looking evil and generally mischievous.

"I'm sure you do," replied the man dismissively.

- - -

_It had taken the better part of twenty minutes, but he had managed to convince the blue hedgehog to come over to the Institute to deal with the two-tailed anomaly of nature._

"_I hope you know that I don't want to be here," snarled the hedgehog to the Director._

_Core merely sighed. He knew all too well. They reached the guarded room where the freak was being kept at a steady walk. Sonic frowned the whole way, making those around them shudder and move out of the way. With a distant crash from behind the target room's closed door, the two entered. The thing was still circling about the ceiling, screaming and howling in its limited English._

"_Alright, Core. What now? I'm here, so hurry up and--" the creature ploughed into the mammal at breakneck speed, knocking him to the ground and making the two of them slide across the tiled floor to the closed door they had just entered._

"_Daddy!" shrieked the thing, wrapping its skinny arms around the blue creature's neck, making him gag._

"_Gack! Let go of me, you freak!" he cursed loudly, shoving it to the floor violently._

_It remained undeterred and totally happy. With another squeal of delight it plastered itself to his chest, grinning from ear to ear. Core half expected the thing to say something like 'I wuv you!' to the hedgehog. Sonic would explode; literally. "Daddy!" it shouted simply, right into Sonic's ear._

"_Gah! Shut up, you hideous mutant!" He stood up, with some difficulty, the thing still clinging to him bodily. "Get off!"_

"_Daddy!"_

"_I'm not your Daddy!"_

"_Daddy!"_

"_GRAAAHH!"_

- - -

"And that continued for a good half hour," sighed the Director. "Though we did get our analysis in the end. But that was the only good point of that entire day."

Shadow looked contemplative. "Hmm, definitely sounds like Sonic. He has a tendency to repeat himself continuously, even in arguments. He's really quite a redundant creature, but at least its amusing. But only when you're not involved."

Core slumped in agreement.

- - -

"_What do you mean I have to take it home?" demanded Sonic loudly, shouting at the tired man behind the impressive office desk. "I don't want it! Keep it in some kennel! Let it go in some swamp forty miles away! I don't care what you do, just don't give it to me!"_

"_Daddy daddy!" said the freakish fox, hanging off the hedgehog by his knee._

_Core sighed. "Sonic, we have nowhere else to send or put it. It refuses to cooperate with any person other than you. Letting it go without proper rehab is dangerous, and we can't afford to keep it in the nursery. It doesn't play well with the other Visitor children."_

"_So?" shouted the hedgehog. "I don't play well with annoying freaks of nature! If you can't do anything with it then just kill it!"_

"_I can't do that, Sonic!" he retorted angrily. "That is below our protocol and simply immoral!"_

_Sonic was completely unfazed by the man's fury. "Then I'll do it. I've got some good knives at home. I can make it quick and painless…"_

"_Sonic--"_

"_Or incredibly painful--"_

"_Sonic! Enough!"_

_The hedgehog glared heatedly at him. "What did you expect, Core? You know me well enough, and thus shouldn't be so surprised."_

"_You're taking him," he said simply. "We've enrolled him in a grade school for anthropomorphs, so you won't have to deal with him as much."_

"_What! Screw that!"_

"_Daddy!" insisted the thing._

"_Shut up! I have enough on my hands without this freak here giving me grief!" His eyes narrowed. "You're plotting against me, aren't you?" he hissed. "You are, aren't you! You sadist!"_

"_Sonic, stop that," quipped Core, looking far from amused. "Just go home and be somewhat civil. Don't try anything stupid; we'll be watching."_

"_What makes you think you could even stop me, Core? I could have this little yellow booger reduced to mere cutlets by the time you even caught wind of my intensions."_

"_That may be so, Sonic, but I know you won't be doing that."_

"_Oh? And why is that?"_

"_Because I'm asking you not to."_

_The hedgehog was silent at this, scowling darkly._

"_You have plenty of spare rooms in your house. I'm sure that this will give you more than ample reason to use them."_

- - -

"And that was that," concluded Core.

Shadow nodded, satisfied with the story he had sneaked out of the Director. Though he guessed that 'sneak' wasn't the greatest term, since he more or less got it willingly. "Thank you, Core," he said to the man.

The doctor character in the back of the room looked over his shoulder. "You may leave now," he said to the black and red mammal. "The results will be in within a week."

Shadow sighed heavily in thanks, happy to be finally free of the doctors' wing. He left quickly, not giving anybody within the room a second thought. He jogged back into the foyer of the secondary medical wing, grabbing his dozing brother by the ear as he passed, dragging him out the door, which had long since reverted to its normal, utilisable shape.

- - -

Knuckles had a gleam in his eyes he didn't usually sport. The imps, in their blind panic, began to shriek and fly about the room chaotically, hoping to whatever was listening that some magical door would open and let them out.

The red echidna dove in with a roar, swinging his frying pan of doom in wide arcs. Bunch by bunch the imp swarm slowly disappeared, reduced to tiny piles of ash with every strike. A few of the less stupid imps were working on the knob of the door, trying to turn the metal bulb with their tiny clawed feet. With over half of their brethren gone, they finally managed to open their way to possible freedom. With a collective shriek the remaining imps flew for the reopened door, rushing past their crazed foe and into the hallway beyond.

Yelling crazily Knuckles gave chase, running after the things in his silverware armour down the stairs to the main floor. The imps made for the least used of the house's corridors. The oddly cold hallway held but one door, old and bearing the signs of disuse. This door, creaking ominously, opened of its own accord for the retreating imps, allowing them passage before slamming quickly shut.

Knuckles skidded to a halt, staring in disbelief. The plank of wood standing silently before him with the imps shut beyond it, was the door to the basement.

* * *

A/N: Ooh... the_ basement_... Just what's up? Stay tuned and see. 


	4. A Hole in the Floor pt2

Disclaimers: Sonic and his mutant pals all belong to the Sonic Team and Yuji Naka.

But the imps, the house, the wierd, and all that belong to me.

Lyrics borrowed from 'Gorillaz'. Because they're a good band.

* * *

CHAPTER FOUR: A HOLE IN THE FLOOR - pt2

"I resent the stunt you pulled on me, sibling," said Shadow snobbishly, still hauling his brother across the floor by the ear.

"Gah! You deserve it, you dumb pacifist!" Sonic writhed and freed himself from the other's vice grip, standing up in a huff. "If you kept better track of your own affairs I wouldn't have to deal with such crap!"

"Humph. You should have said something instead of fooling me into coming here."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. You wouldn't have come on your own. Those idiots would have dragged you there themselves. Or worse yet, I would have been left to do that! At least this way it was a lot less aggravating." He sniggered to himself. "You should have seen your face…"

Shadow glared at him.

The two marched out of the Institute, bickering like bratty children. They let up once they left the Institute's grounds, heading for the main road. "Might as well open up shop," grumbled Sonic to no-one particular.

Shadow nodded. "Yes. It would be nice to open up the store with the sun still rising," he commented. "What time is it?"

Sonic shrugged. "Noon. Maybe one."

"But we usually don't open the shop until five," he said pointedly.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "You have a better idea of how we can spend our time? The last time I checked, we weren't allowed to summon gigantic worm gods to trash the place."

"True… Which is too bad, really." Shadow put a finger under his nose in thought. "Well…" his eyes glimmered menacingly, "since we're going to the shop so early, we could play a game of--"

"No!" cut in the other. "We're not going through that again, not until you learn how to not cheat."

"I do not cheat!" he defended, looking hurt.

"You're full of crap. You do cheat. And the last time you did, we got mobbed by a bunch of nerds bent on overtaking the world."

"I didn't do that! That was something else entirely!"

"Oh, was it now?"

"Stop that! You're acting like a poorly behaved child."

Sonic snorted. "And you're not? If I'm not mistaken, you just threw a temper tantrum in the doctor's office."

Shadow's frown was so fierce, the nearby vegetation was under the threat of spontaneous combustion. He looked away, turning up his nose. "You're a juvenile."

Sonic just laughed at him.

- - -

Knuckles was panicking. There were imps in the basement and the house was a mess. He paced in a tight circle, hands on his silver-armoured head. What was he to do?

He had to get a hold of the brothers. But the doors were still jammed. The phones! He dashed to the kitchen phone, a small amount of hope burning in his breast. He would phone the Institute, they would know where the brothers were. He'd try the shop too, just in case they were there. He picked up the receiver and brought it up to his ear. A busy tone met his fevered hearing. The phones were out…? He hung up the receiver and went for the phone in the living room, panting.

Still, a busy tone rang out. A strange noise surfaced amongst the beeping, slowly getting louder. "_…rrrrrssttnnaasssssss…_" the sound was surrounded in static.

Was that a voice? "Hello? Operator?" he questioned, twirling the phone cord shakily.

The static rose, nearly drowning out the beeping of the busy tone.

"Operator!"

"…_ssssshhjjaakksssss…_" said the static.

Knuckles took his chances. "Hello? Is anyone there? I'm stuck in my house! There are things--"

"…_uuuuhhhhiioojjdddsssss…_" ploughed the phone. "_…jjjjkkiippffrrssssssttyylllll!…_"

Knuckles was starting to get rather suspicious. But it wasn't enough to curb his want for some kind of comfort in this creepy mansion. "Hello? Hello!"

The static took a dive in tone. "_…fffffggrrhhyyss-_you-will-die-_hhuujjsssss…_"

The echidna squeaked and dropped the phone, kicking at it as he scrambled away. He just got a death threat from the phone! He stared at the receiver. The white piece of communication just sat there, still sending out a busy tone. It spat out a small spark, followed by a thick red sludge. The stuff oozed out from the holes in the receiver, soaking the carpet. Knuckles got up and ran, shrieking to no-one in particular. He eventually stopped when he realised that no-one was going to hear him anyway. "Okay… calm down…" he said to himself. He gripped at his dreads, looking anything but calm. "It's just the house. The house can't hurt you…"

He knew that was a lie.

An eerie creak sounded from behind him. Unable to help himself he turned to find the source of the noise. Silence. And nothing. He inched his way to where he was sure the sound had come from. The old door to the basement stood open.

Knuckles clutched at his frying pan. What now? Did the imps come back out?

A low, animal growl sounded from all around him, making him go white. That was no imp… He looked around carefully. There was no sign of what had made the foreboding noise. He wished he had gone shopping when he had the chance…

- - -

"We'll close early," said Sonic, unlocking the door to his shop 'Grimm Findings'.

"Isn't that irresponsible, sibling?" questioned Shadow, following his twin inside. "Our sign says that our hours are from five to twelve."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Of course, mother, we have to think of the customers!" he said childishly in a high, squeaky voice. "We don't get customers on Thursdays."

Shadow ignored him. "If it's Thursday, then isn't Tails out early?"

"Yeah," replied Sonic, rummaging somewhere behind the service counter. "So Knuckles should have…" he looked at the clock, which read twelve forty-five, "already picked him up from school."

"Hmm." Shadow toddled off to the back room, leaving his brother to his devices.

Sonic, after some thought, switched the closed sign to open, admitting the general populace of ignorance into his shop at their own will. After straightening some of the rather odd merchandise he and his brother sold, he sat himself back down behind the counter, reading over an old magazine.

Shadow called out from the back storage, where they kept their extra wares and things they didn't show to the public. "Are you sure you don't want to play a game of--"

"No!" retorted the blue hedgehog. "Get that stupid idea out of your head right now! I don't want another episode of idiocy!"

Shadow pouted in the back room. "You're no fun," he told his sibling as he came back out. "The Sonic I remember was much more fun to be with," he commented.

"Oh?" He just continued to read his magazine. "From what I gather, sibling, you've only known 'Sonic' for two years, not even. So there's really no other Sonic to remember."

The dark hedgehog put his hands on his hips. "You know what I mean!"

He shrugged dismissively. "Feh."

"Well," he wandered over to the phone. "We should phone Knuckles and Tails, make sure everything is going fine."

"What for?" questioned Sonic, making his brother stop before the receiver. "They'll be fine, it isn't like this is their first time alone. If there's a problem, they'll call us."

"But Knuckles doesn't know we're already at the store," insisted the other, hand resting on the device.

Sonic gave him a peeved look. "Leave it, you old croon. Knuckles isn't, I admit, completely helpless, he can figure out whatever happens. It's not like the house is going to do anything to him. It's a pile of wood and nails; nothing harmful about it."

"Stepping on nails is dangerous," said Shadow pointedly, leaving the receiver alone.

Sonic frowned in annoyance. "Only an idiot would step on a nail."

- - -

At St. Jerome's School for Anthropomorphs, Tails was sitting on the front steps by his lonesome. All the other children had gone home, while he was waiting to be picked up. It wasn't that he didn't know the way home by himself, quite the contrary; it was just that he had been told to wait for someone to pick him up. That usually meant Knuckles, but he was a little late.

So he waited.

- - -

Meanwhile, Knuckles was trying desperately to get out of the house. The door at the front was still jammed and its knob was still flaming hot. The doors at the back and sides were sealed shut as well, with some even making nasty noises at him when he came too close. On top of that, there was something very large and bad prowling about the house; something that had come out of the basement.

It was all freaking him out something fierce. He knew he wasn't dreaming, which was too bad, since he really wished he was.

Pacing madly about the kitchen an idea came to mind. The windows! He could get out through them! He immediately climbed atop the kitchen sink, where a sliding window rested in the wall. He began to pull at the mechanism that held it shut. The window was unlocked, but the pane would not budge. Not the windows too! "Aww… man," he wined, leaning on the wall in defeat. Was there no way out?

He spotted the chairs sitting quietly about the table, then looked back at the fragile glass. Biting his upper lip he hopped down to the floor. He didn't care what Sonic would say once he got back, but he for one wanted to live to see tomorrow. Though the little voice in his head was telling him that seeing another day was not going to be a primary choice of Sonic's possible list of ways to punish him after this, he grabbed a chair and headed for the living room. With the piece of furniture held high over his head, he halted before the massive window that stood before him.

The echidna yelled and threw the chair at the window pane as hard as he could.

The chair flew deep into the window, making it bend like rubber. The house groaned loudly, and the pane flung the chair back like a slingshot. The four legged piece of metal, wood, and some kind of fluffy substance for cushion stuffing rocketed through the air, shooting over Knuckles' head and lodged itself into the ceiling, hanging there by a foot.

Knuckles could only gawp. Indeed, there was no way out of this place. He was close to cracking.

The animal growl he had heard before sounded from somewhere around him. As if on cue, the house's innumerable blinds and curtains were drawn, shutting out the sunlight. Any lights that had been on were promptly shut off, surrounding the poor echidna in a swathe of twilight grey. This couldn't be happening. He was easily a daylight creature, and thus worked best, and felt safest, in full light. He dove for the nearest light switch, flicking it several times. The assigned light refused to shine.

Knuckles was getting scared. Before, he was just freaked out. But now he was actually scared. Just what on earth was going on? What was doing this? The ominous growl sounded again, much closer than it had been before. Sweating bullets, the red echidna shuffled as silently as possible towards the kitchen, keeping his eyes peeled.

It wasn't so dark as to be black. It was just very devoid of light. Either way, Knuckles didn't like it one bit. He made his way back to the kitchen, opening the cupboards a third time. Peering about him fearfully he dug out the only flashlight the brothers owned, making a mental note to buy more when he got the chance. He whipped the instrument out in front of him with a snap of his arm, flicking the bulb on. The manufactured light flickered slightly, and went out. "No!" He turned the thing upwards to stare down the head in disbelief. "Come on, work!" he said desperately, giving he thing a good whack. The light blared to life, blinding the echidna. "Gah!" He threw the beam out in front of him, rubbing his assaulted eyes.

His vision readjusted quickly. Thankfully, there was nothing out of place before him. There was one chair missing from the table, lodged somewhere in the living room ceiling, an ugly welt on the wall, ashes on the floor, nasty bleeding bite marks on the walls, a beeping phone on the floor with ooze coming out of it… everything was still just as he left it.

Of course, this was of absolutely no comfort.

The darkness seemed deeper, now that he had the flashlight on. He adjusted his pot helmet and gripped his frying pan. Standing up slowly he swept the area with his light, hoping he would yet wouldn't find anything.

Nothing.

With nothing better rising in his badly shaken brain, he began to inch about the house, searching for… he didn't know.

He searched the hall near the front door, the kitchen, the living room. Still nothing. He made for the stairs. Maybe he could hide out in his room until the brother's came back and sorted all this out.

There was another growl, coming from straight above him. He froze. With a trembling hand he angled his beam upwards. What glared back down at him from the white ceiling was--

- - -

"This is boring, sibling," sighed Shadow.

Sonic didn't care. "I don't care."

"We should get a radio for this place."

"Why?" questioned Sonic, going over his magazine for the third time. "I hate all that nasty hippity-hop they're playing on the airwaves nowadays. It's annoying." He looked up, finding a welcome distraction from his reading. "It's not even music! It's all like some form of weird-ass hypnosis! Brainwashing every weak-minded snot-brained teen out there." He nodded to himself. "It's rather impressive."

"Don't be so judgemental, Sonic," huffed Shadow, chin in his hands on the service counter. "Hip-hop is the music of the day. Not all of it is bad."

The other gave his twin an awkward look. "And who told you that? Jonesey? Or that freak of a kid across the street?"

"The one you repeatedly terrorise with giant slugs and balls of flying earwax? No, he's been in therapy for over five months, doesn't come out very often anymore." Sonic snorted in evil laughter. "Actually, Knuckles told me."

The blue hedgehog gave him an incredulous glance. "Him? He listens to that garbage?"

"Of course," said Shadow simply. "He's got his own radio, with headphones."

"Oh?"

"Yes, he even let me listen to a few songs of his. Not too bad, he's got good tastes."

"Is that so?" his eyes narrowed.

"Uh-huh." He was totally oblivious to his twin's mounting annoyance. "_When the MC rhyme and the DJ spin I want you all to just get down / Tap your toes and clap your hands / Trace the globe and shake your pants / Just swish your hip and do the dip / Shake and bake do whatever it takes…_" He continued to hum some tune to himself.

"'Shake and Bake'? No wonder he likes it," grumbled Sonic darkly. "I'll trash that radio."

"Don't you dare!" shot Shadow. "He bought it with his own money, so you can't touch it."

"Oh as if you care!" Sonic glared at him. "You're just saying that because you like to listen to that crap of his."

"Maybe, but you still can't do anything about the radio. He wears headphones so that it doesn't bother you, he told me himself. He's quite considerate of those around him, unlike _some people_."

Sonic rolled his eyes yet again. "Oh boo-hoo, cry me a river." Shadow just huffed to himself.

They had been open for several hours now. It was already five thirty. They hadn't a customer since they opened, which didn't surprise Sonic in the least. He was pretty sure that they weren't going to see very many people that night.

- - -

It was after eight. The sun was just starting to set behind the school.

Diligent and quiet, Tails was still waiting for his escort. Time didn't matter a whole lot to him. In fact, not a whole lot meant a whole lot to him. Waiting in the slowly deepening gloom he flew his little mutilated whale out in front of him, making plane noises.

* * *

A/N: I saw the music video for 'Rock da House' three times in a row in our mew media class last semester, and have since then had it ingrained into my brain. Hence, it shows up here. 


	5. A Hole in the Floor pt3

Disclaimers: Sonic and his mutants all belong to the Sonic Team and Yuji Naka.

But everything else, including the scarlet expanse, is mine.

* * *

CHAPTER FIVE: A HOLE IN THE FLOOR - pt 3

They had a grand total of fifteen customers that night, not including the small crowd of weirdos that were looking for live snakes. They weren't a pet store.

It was now twelve at night, and the brothers were closing up shop. "Gah, finally," sighed Sonic, turning the key to lock the door to the tiny specialty building. "Now we can go home."

Shadow stretched on the sidewalk. "I tried to phone Knuckles earlier today, sibling…"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Right, whatever."

"But sibling, I didn't get an answer. The line was busy," he insisted.

The blue hog just gave him an exasperated glance. "So? He was probably talking to one of his relatives or something," he said dismissively.

"Sonic, you know was well as I do that Knuckles' family hasn't embraced technology to that standard yet. They write, not phone."

"So? For Gods' sake just let it be." He started walking away. "So you couldn't reach him once, big deal."

Shadow started quickly after him. "I called him _ten times_, sibling. And I got the same thing every time. Busy signals."

He just gave his brother a peeved look. "Shadow, stop your inane foolishness right now."

"Sonic, no-one is on the phone for that long. I phoned more than once and hour. I find it very suspicious--"

"Stop it," said Sonic forcefully, stopping. He gripped his brother by the arm. "There is _nothing wrong_." He lowered his voice, ears flat against his head. "Unless you are trying to _imply_ something I don't know about."

Shadow was actually sweating under his twin's gaze. "Ah…"

"I was rudely reminded this morning about our _duties_," he hissed angrily.

"Oh…?"

"So as far as I'm concerned, there is _nothing to be worried about unless there is something you haven't told me_."

Shadow cringed. "Well… sibling… I didn't know that…"

"_Is there something you want to tell me?_" questioned Sonic.

"Nooo…"

The blue hedgehog released him, still glaring. He started down the sidewalk a second time.

Shadow recomposed himself, a little shaken, and followed after him.

- - -

The two were quiet for the entirety of the walk back to the house, Sonic being too angry, and Shadow being rightfully cautious of his brother's temper, to speak any further.

It was nearly one in the morning, and there was no-one and nothing else on the road or the walks. The sky was unusually black, with nearly no stars showing from their place in the night canvas.

Sonic stormed up his front steps like he usually did, looking angry, which he usually did.

However, unlike he usually did, he walked straight into the wood of the door. Shadow stopped at the steps, watching as his brother reversed his face-plant. The blue hedgehog cursed under his breath, rubbing his nose. "What the Hell?" He was more than a little surprised. His door always opened for him, he never needed a set of keys because of that fact alone. But for some reason his door wasn't complying to its routine. Miffed, he tried the handle; it was locked firmly.

In no mood to summon his house keys, the hog gave his door a violent kick, driving it swinging inwards. He took two steps inside before standing as still as stone, gawping at the dark interior.

Shadow couldn't see his twin's expression, and thus was remaining on the steps, just in case… "Sibling?" he called. "Is everything alright?"

Sonic put his hands to his head. "MY HOUSE!" he shrieked. He disappeared inside, screaming obscenities that could make a hardened sailor a grubby land-lubber. "Knuckles! Where are you, you stupid anteater! Come out!"

The dark hedgehog edged up the stairs into the building, nearly loosing his jaw as he peered about for what had jumpstarted his brother's rage. There was a bleeding hole in the wall, a kitchen chair lodged in the living room ceiling and strange welts on the walls. Things were truly a mess. "Oh, dear…"

Sonic was still rampaging about the house in search of the red echidna. "Knuckles! If you don't get your ass out here this instant I'll curse your clan with wandering dead!" Thumps of hurried footsteps sounded from the upstairs. "Dammit, echidna, answer me!"

The other twin stepped about the main floor with wide eyes, utterly dumbfounded. Entering the living room he found the reason for why his calls never came through.

"Dammit! Where in blazes is that dumb animal?" Sonic came stomping down the stairs back to the main floor. "He'd better come out this instant or--"

"Sibling…"

"What?"

Shadow held up the living room receiver. Thick red ooze was still stringing from the plastic in thick ropes. "I… think I know why we couldn't call Knuckles…" Sonic just stared at the white piece of communication. "Sibling… there's something wrong here…"

Sonic suddenly scowled. "You _think?_" he demanded. He stomped up to him, trying the light switch as he went, which didn't work. "Shadow, I want to know, straight up, what day it is."

His brother make a face. "Er… Thursday…?"

"No, you dolt! What _day_, Shadow, _what day_."

"Ah." Shadow thought for a moment, poking the air as if counting. Sonic's already venerable scowl deepened. "Er, it is… the eve… of… ah…"

"You don't know, do you?"

"Shush! I'm thinking!" He glared at the ceiling in thought. He jabbed at the air. "It's… it's the… Eve of Hustas!" he announced, snapping his fingers and pointing at his brother.

Sonic was unmoved, arms folded over his chest. "You're an idiot," he stated.

"What?" It was Shadow's turn to scowl. "I'm right and you know it!"

"Hell no! Eve of Hustas? Are you crazy? That was over two hundred years ago!"

"It was not!" retorted the dark mammal, pushing his face forward for emphasis.

"It was, you half-baked djinni!" He leaned in as well, pressing his nose against that of his brother's. "I suppose you just forgot to take into account all the years we were asleep?" he hissed dangerously.

Shadow pulled away, thinking. "Hmm… now that you mention it… I think I did."

Sonic groaned loudly and shook his fists. "Dammit, Shadow! I knew leaving you in charge of keeping the calendar was a bad idea!"

"Hey! It was Zugath's zenith when you told me to start doing it! That comes every year! It's not my fault I got confused!"

"Not your fault? Of course it's your fault!"

A loud groan from the house silenced the twins, echoing throughout the building for a whole half a minute before fading away.

"…Sibling, your house sounds like a sinking ship," said Shadow, hunched over and peering about the house cautiously.

Sonic was darting his gaze about his material home as well. "Tell me something I don't know," he quipped.

"Tails is ten years old," said Shadow with a grin.

The other gave him a heated glare.

"Tails is in grade four."

"Shut up!"

- - -

Tails was busy counting the stars shining over the school's yard.

- - -

A strange sloshing noise woke him up.

Knuckles, echidna in arms, slowly groaned into wakefulness. His head hurt and the rest of his body was stiffer than a two-by-four.

"Gurg…" was his first word.

A quick, groggy feel-about told him he still had his pot helmet and greasy frying pan of a weapon.

He gripped the pan tightly. What… Where was he? What happened? He remembered the imps… and all the creepy noises… Something… had fallen on him… big and hairy… He stood up hurriedly, peering all around him frantically. The world was red. The ground was red, the rocks were red, the sky was red, even the water behind him was red.

"Wha? Where am I?" he questioned himself, sweating. Good God he wasn't dead, was he? He put his hands on his armoured head. Oh, no. Sonic didn't send him to the underworld for what happened to the house, did he? He felt at himself, patting his figure to make sure it was all more or less present. Well, he seemed all there… maybe he wasn't dead.

The echidna may still be breathing, but the problem of his location still remained. He gave his surroundings a second once-over, taking more time.

There was no vegetation anywhere, just red, cracked dirt. Behind him spanned an ocean of red water. He walked over to the raised edge of the earth, pan gripped tightly in his hands, and peered into the scarlet ebb. Nothing. It was too thick to see anything. No fish, no seaweed, no nothing. A path stretched from where he had awakened, leading off into an equally red mist.

Knuckles made a face. Whoever designed this place probably didn't have much colour perception. Either that… or somebody had a really big infatuation with red.

Either way, it was starting to really freak him out, twice as much considering he was already freaked out even before he woke up.

"Okay…" He wrung his pan uncertainly in his hands, slowly making it spin. What now? What if whatever had sent him to this monochromatic place was here as well? It didn't really seem to be a good idea to go anywhere, and neither did staying in one place. Here, he was cornered, with nowhere to go. If he moved, then maybe he would be able to spot trouble before it spotted him. He whimpered slightly. No, he'd stay here. If he stayed here, then maybe the guys would be able to find him.

The water behind him bubbled ominously. He gave it a helpless glance. Thick bubbles formed all about the edge of the raised shore.

Figuring he didn't entirely have any better alternatives thanks to the freaky bubbling, he inched off into the undulating mists.

- - -

"I hope you know that I hate you from the bottom of my heart," snarled Sonic, stomping about the house.

Shadow followed after him, snickering to himself. "You're such an easy target, brother. I can't resist."

"You're such a sadist."

The house was incredibly semi-loud and dark. The lights still weren't working, and the creaking hadn't stopped. So the brothers' top priority at the moment was to find the house's fuse box and bring the place back to some form of life.

"Erm… sibling?" piped Shadow as they passed a lone, dead flashlight on the floor.

The blue hog rolled his eyes. "What, airhead?"

He didn't raise to the bait. "If Knuckles has been more or less missing since this morning… as I'm guessing from the state of the phone in the living room… then where's Tails?"

Sonic stopped.

- - -

Tails was rolling about the grass in front of his school.

- - -

"Perhaps we should go look for him…?"

"Pfft. No."

Shadow rolled is eyes in turn. "Sonic, leaving him out there is dangerous--"

"He's lasted this long, he'll be fine until tomorrow afternoon," he stated firmly.

"He's only ten!"

"So?" He gave him a customary glare. "If you're so worried about the freak, then why don't you go and get him? Hmm?"

Shadow just scowled.

"Ha! You don't want to either!" he jeered. "Why do you think I send that dumb echidna after him every day?"

The two hedgehogs reached the fuse box at long last. With a sigh Sonic yanked the metal door open. Several plastic switches sat in the black polyurethane board, unmalicious and utterly harmless. Giving an unfriendly eye to the electric crossroads the blue hedgehog flipped a near half of them, and waited. No lights came on. Giving a peeved look about, he tried again.

Nothing.

"Sibling, I think you're technologically impaired," piped Shadow from behind him.

Sonic turned his head to give his twin a sneer. "Oh, and I'm guessing that you are suggesting you could do better?"

He turned up his nose.

"Why don't you give it a try, oh master tech-savvy?" he challenged.

"No," replied the dark hedgehog.

"Why not?"

"I don't want to."

Sonic just shook his head. "You're a liar."

Shadow smirked.

"What are you so happy about?" he demanded, shoving him out of the way to walk back down the hallway.

The other twin just chuckled. "At least you didn't call me a con-artist."

"Is that all?" he quipped. "How about I start doing that now?"

Shadow socked him in the arm from behind. "Don't you dare! It took me forever to make you stop! Don't negate my efforts!"

It was Sonic's turn to laugh. "Efforts? Ha! I called you a con-artist because that was what you were. And that's what you still are, as far as I'm concerned."

"You take that back! Don't tell me you still think that I'm not your brother!"

Sonic's gaze narrowed. "Ooh… and why should I tell you? After all, you could just be a robot clone sent to spy on me."

The black and red hedgehog gawped in disbelief. "What? You can't be serious!"

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," sneered the other.

"After all this time? Are you pulling my leg?" he asked desperately. "You're fibbing, aren't you?"

Sonic put a finger to the side of his face in mock coyness. "Mmm… maybe."

Shadow finally burst. "You little freak!" he cursed. "I should fry you to a crisp! Then we'll see who's a con-artist!"

He whirled on him. "Is that so? Well just try it, you amorphous fool! I'll blow your sorry corpse from here to the Isles!"

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Just see if I don't!"

As the two of them took a ready stance, a quiet creak of wood on old hinges sounded, making them both freeze and peer to the side. An aged door stood open.

"Sibling…" said Shadow. "Isn't that the door to the basement?"

Sonic was equally stunned. "Yes…"

"Why is it open? Didn't you seal it shut?"

"I did…" He released his stance, his gaze glued to the door. He touched a hand against the cold wood. "There's no way this should be open."

The darker twin shuffled up to peer down the dark steps. He could maybe see ten or twenty stairs, before an impregnable dark swallowed everything below. "Do you think Knuckles is down there?"

"He'd be twice as stupid as even I have ever given him credit for if he is."

Shadow rolled his eyes. "I'm sure he didn't go down there by his own will, Sonic."

"Humph. Same dif. Either way," he continued as the house groaned for the umpteenth time, "it seems as though we're going down as well."

- - -

Tails was getting bored. And hungry. Where was Knuckles? He should have been here a _long_ time ago.

He laid back on the grass, flying his mutilated sperm whale in front of him at arms' length. He made plane noises as he played, like he usually did. The fox had an odd infatuation with planes, especially red ones. Red ones always made the most noise.

But Sonic didn't like planes. Whenever one flew over the house, he would run outside and start jumping around, yelling things he wasn't allowed to repeat.

Maybe he could find some leftover fast food in the school trash bins.

Figuring nothing was wrong with his idea, he got up.

Before he could go garbage hunting, however, a long, low animal growl sounded from the edge of the school green. 'Submarine' in hand the little fox peered about the public property, unfazed by the tone of the sound.

A single pair of red, vile looking points of light shone just beyond the single rail of metal that signalled the edge of the playground yard, eyeing the mutant hungrily.

Tails cocked his vastly oversized head to one side in wonderment.

The thing in the dark rose its hackles angrily, baring an impressive set of teeth invisible to the young fox from where he was. The creature was bent on its single mission, given to it by its master and trainer, and it would fulfill that ideal to the letter.

- - -

"Please tell me you're joking."

Sonic closed his eyes in aggravation. "How much of a weenie have you become, Shadow?" he questioned sarcastically.

"Is that a rhetorical question?" he stalled.

The blue hedgehog groaned and imprisoned his brother's arm in his gloved hand. "Let's go, weenie-boy." He then proceeded to haul his unwilling twin into the waiting dark.

* * *

A/N: Ah, the basement. The source of countless childhood horrors...

Anyway, yes! Chapter five! I've kind of flown off-course a little... but the flashbacks will prevail! Or at least, there will be more of them, but only when they're relevant... something like that.

Please remember to read and review! The Sonic gang needs your love. Without it, they will peter away into unhappy pits of a particular blue sadist's making... and we don't want that.


	6. A Hole in the Floor pt4

Disclaimers: Sonic and his foolhardy and fickle friends all belong to the Sonic Team and Yuji Naka.

But everything else are belong to me. Including your base.

* * *

CHAPTER SIX: A HOLE IN THE FLOOR - pt 4 

Knuckles was surrounded by the red. He still had his stained pot and pan, which gave him at least some sense of security. Though he felt sure that with all the scarlet fog everywhere, he was probably almost invisible to the naked eye anyway.

But the echidna had close to no idea of where he was, or more precisely, how far he had gone since he had woken up at the shore side. He couldn't hear the water anymore, so he must have moved somewhere inland. But _where?_

"You cheating scum-bag of lard!"

The shout made him freeze. What was that? He briefly hoped it was the twins. Only Sonic had a mouth like that.

"You're a sore loser. Suck it up," said a second voice. Neither sounded like the twins…

"I will not! You cheated!"

"Prove it."

"There aren't six aces in a deck!"

Knuckles wasn't sure if he should investigate. Though it was either that, or wandering aimlessly through a fog as thick as pea-soup. He took door number two.

"So?" huffed the second voice.

"Is that all you have to say for yourself? Give me back my stuff!" shouted the first.

The echidna was trying very hard to steer clear of the voices, but it was proving to be much harder than he had thought. It seemed as though the voices were coming from everywhere at once.

"Feh. No. You lost it, fair and square."

"You cheated! That is not fair-and-square!"

"Too. Bad."

"You suck! …Jerk."

Knuckles had stopped walking entirely now. The voices were incredibly close, but he could not determine where they were coming from. He didn't want to chance walking in on some kind of dangerous group of poker gamers in the middle of the mists. If he did he could always run, but then again, with the mists so thick he would likely end up hitting some kind of rock and braining himself unconscious before he even knew it, regardless of the pot sitting on his head. But he couldn't stay in one spot either! He nearly groaned out loud. This little quirk in his day had become less than appreciated on all levels un-appreciative-ness. Why did this always happen to him?

"I'm not playing with you anymore!" shouted the loser of whatever card game had been going on.

"Oh please, is it really so bad?" sighed the winner.

"Yes! You took all my collectable buttons! I spent my first three hundred years of life finding them all!" The owner of the voice seemed to sniffle dejectedly. "You're such a jerk. You knew I had gone through all that trouble to get them, and now look! You don't even like buttons!"

"Who said that? How would you know?" argued the other.

"Just look at you! You don't have a squat of clothing on you! You don't even wear boxers, for goodness sake!"

Now Knuckles really didn't want to run into whatever was hiding in the mists. He didn't exactly wear clothing himself, but not wearing _anything_ at all was something very different. He wore shoes at least, and that kept him from being tossed out of Studio City's restaurants. He figured that it would now be best to move away. He swiftly chose a random direction and started forwards.

The voices were still arguing about clothes and buttons, but the red echidna didn't bother to listen. He was escaping, and that was all he needed to concentrate on right now. He power-sneaked through the impossibly thick mists, hoping to hit some kind of way out.

However, Knuckles was prone to attracting bad luck in droves, and his lot of sorry happenings hadn't run dry yet for today.

"Hey, what's that?" came one of the voices, the loser, specifically.

Knuckles froze, going cold to the very bottom of his feet. They didn't see him, did they?

"Don't know, but it looks good!" said the second voice.

He knew now that they indeed were. He squeaked and ran for it, blindly going through the mist and fog where no other echidna had blindly gone before (at least to his knowledge). However, he took a wrong turn somewhere, and ended up running right smack into the creatures that had been arguing over buttons but a moment before. He skidded to a halt and nearly lost his caffeinated breakfast that was by this time yesterday's breakfast. He was easily caught by the two creatures, who were quite tall, had the heads of some kind of canine, and possessed no skin whatsoever. "Ghhaaahh!" he shrieked as they grabbed him by the arms.

They hefted him up from the ground, making him drop his frying pan. They stared at him with their nearly-lidless blue eyes. "Oi, this is one ugly bugger, eh?" said the first creature, whom could be recognised through voice as the button loser. "Wonder what it is?"

The second beast, he guessed to be the winner of the game by process of elimination, took a whiff of him. "Don't know. Smells awful though."

Knuckles felt insulted. "Hey!" he said defiantly. "You take that back!"

The two things nearly dropped him out of surprise. "Hey it talks!"

"I take showers, you know!" he yelled.

The first thing looked absolutely mesmerised. "That's so _cool!_" He made a squealing noise. "It's like we got our own pet freak! Let's keep it."

"You sure?" questioned the other as Knuckles gawped like a fish stranded on land. "It looks kinda high maintenance."

"I don't care, it talks! And that's just _so neat!_"

The second skinless beast shrugged. "Well, okay. We'll take it back, but don't expect ma to say 'yes'. She hates pets."

"Wha?" bubbled Knuckles.

"I bet she'll love this thing! It's like a parrot! Only _better!_"

"Well, don't start crying if she eats it instead," cautioned the other as they started walking through the mists to whatever destination they had in mind.

"What?!" cried Knuckles.

The first giggled. "Hee… that'll be neat, too."

With the red echidna dangling from their grasp the two things vanished into the mists.

- - -

Shadow was not at all happy at being hauled by his brother into the depths of his basement, which had been revealed to him the night before to be full of vengeful ghosts.

Of course, he wasn't afraid of ghosts. He just didn't enjoy their company as much as Sonic did. All they did was moan and complain about the afterlife, which they technically had never reached since they were still here.

The darkness was so thick he could hardly see his twin's form but inches ahead of him, much less the stairs he was supposed to stay on. "Sibling? Do you happen to have a light?" he questioned sweetly.

Sonic scoffed. "No."

Since he couldn't really see the bottom coming ever closer, he wasn't very prepared for when he stepped on it. The black and red hedgehog toppled to the cold ground when his foot came up shorter than expected. Getting his balance back he promptly whipped his arm from his brother's grip. "Don't do that to me," he scolded.

Sonic wasn't paying attention to his brother. He instead scanned the darkness, which to him was not nearly as deep as to his twin. Their differences in training in the far, far past had lead to vast differences in abilities in the now. Hence, Shadow was more or less left in the dark in this regard. For the sake of not having to hold his hand, the blue hog waved his wrist and brought a small orb of light into existence. There, now Shadow wouldn't be completely helpless.

Upon seeing the newly revealed basement, the black and red hedgehog cringed. "Ooh, you need to redecorate this place," he commented. Sonic socked him in the arm.

The brother's basement was an ugly place for all intents and purposes. The concrete that had been prevalent before (before Sonic had moved in), had only a few feet of dominance at the base of the bare stairs before being usurped by wet, brown earth. The ground beyond the grey material glistened in the light and made a continuous squishing-like noise, sometimes rolling absently in a pulse. The walls were similarly disfigured, with the concrete giving way not too far from the only exit from the lower level's depths. The hole itself wasn't very wide, as most basements aren't, but it was long, and the shadows in the distance quickly ate up the power of the light not very far ahead of the twins.

"Maybe I should stay upstairs and keep watch?" suggested Shadow.

Sonic socked him again. "Shut it and move, wuss," he retorted, starting forwards. "I've got the only light, and the stairs are an _awfully long_ way up." He grinned maliciously as the other darted from his place to catch up.

"I hate you," said Shadow. Sonic just laughed like a sadist.

The two of them headed down the basement's length, the ground churning about their feet. The walls had started to pulse in time with the floor.

In all his years of knowing and being with his brother and what he generally worked with, this was very new to Shadow. He himself didn't work with the dead, unless someone wished for it with his staff of power. Even then, that was never as _creepy_ as this. Before he had returned to raise a little hell in his brother's life, he had heard some interesting tales about Sonic's house. Everything from an army of zombies to a battalion of ghosts to one big beast made of the house itself had reached his ears of what his twin had incidentally crafted in a not-so-accidental absence from the city. He had gained several references to that event from Knuckles, who didn't remember it fondly. He would always turn green and start rocking in his chair every time he even mentioned it, or was brought up fleetingly by someone else.

The churning material was steadily taking on a reddish hue, and it wasn't pretty. "How often have you come down here, sibling?" he questioned casually, trying to keep himself distracted from the progressively uglifying basement surroundings.

Sonic squinted at nothing. "Er… this would be the… third time…? Yeah, third," he answered. "Now stop talking. It would be a good idea to keep our presence to a minimum."

"Why?"

"Because _I said so_," he growled, giving him a vicious glare over his shoulder.

Shadow took the point and clammed up. Sonic didn't have his own staff of power with him. He guessed he wouldn't be aptly prepared to defend the two of them if the spirits decided they didn't want their jail keeper traversing their territory. There were certain incantations and whatnot the twins were unable to use thanks to the fact that the ISID had confiscated their greater staves, which allowed them such freedom. So unfortunately, it seemed as though they would be in for a pickle if the local dead woke up and realised this. He found himself wishing his had his. The staff was a marvel of functionality and surreal weaponry, capable of reforming itself to whatever he needed for defence. Sonic's, on the other hand, was not so gifted. It was just a staff, and not a weapon. Sure, he could launch some nasty curses at people with it, but he never dared to smack someone with it. That was a job for his other possessions, namely the scythe he kept in his private collection. Which reminded him… "Sibling?" he piped. "Why don't you have a weapon? Since, well, it seemed as though you knew we would be coming down here?"

Sonic frowned at him over his other shoulder. "If what's going on _is_ what I think is going on, then I'm sure that our _friend_ wouldn't appreciate us waltzing in armed to the teeth."

"Oh, right. Then I guess we're going to have to keep ourselves degraded to sitting turkeys."

"That's sitting _ducks_, you twat."

- - -

Outside on the schoolyard, Tails had found himself a new game that involved staring down a pair of red eyes beyond the rails that signified the school property's end. He didn't know who he was playing against, but that was okay. The freak just grinned stupidly to himself and continued on with his self-proclaimed contest.

In the shadows, the other contender, lost to darkness, returned the blue stare with fervour and absolute malice. It growled again, beginning to slowly inch its way to the side, where entry to the green could be seen. It kept its unhealthy gaze pinned to the two-tailed anomaly as it went, making sure it didn't go anywhere.

Tails kept his impossible stare. He knew he had a good chance of winning, as his schoolmates didn't like it when he tried to start a staring game with them, because they would always end up losing. Just why they would start crying and admitting to things like stealing their mom's socks he didn't know. But that was okay, because everyone else would start laughing. He had told Sonic about it once, and he had said something like 'revealing stare' afterwards. The youngster had no idea what he had meant, and didn't care. He watched the red eyes move.

- - -

Knuckles was not at all happy at the fact that he was about to be either claimed as a house pet or eaten by some person. He still hung between his captors, who were a great deal taller than him, who had returned to bickering over cheating and lost buttons. He tried to direct his energies towards getting free. He knew that struggling would do nothing, as he had just spent the last several minutes doing just that, and had gotten nowhere.

So instead he surveyed his surroundings. The red mist was still everywhere, and was still extremely thick. Hence, he didn't end up seeing a whole lot.

He groaned to himself. A boney finger prodded him in the side. "Talk," said the button loser.

He gave the thing a seldom used glare. He received another poke in response. "Cut that out!" he shouted. The creature squealed and giggled like an idiot.

The second beast snorted to himself.

Why was he here? Because he lived with a maniac, he reminded himself. If it wasn't for the fact that the bank thought he wasn't qualified enough (or old enough) to start a mortgage, he would have left Sonic's house ages ago. He knew that his set up with the blue hog had been executed out of pure chance and flat-out bad luck. He hated reminiscing about it, and since his mind was beginning to wander off into bad territory in that regard, he just sighed and stared off into space.

- - -

Shadow was really starting to not enjoy this little trip. His ears were flat against his head and he had developed a slight cautious slouch to his form, the only outward signs of his slowly growing fear. _Fear?_ Shadow never thought he'd ever be afraid of anything after… well, he stopped there.

The basement floor and walls had morphed from earthly gunk to brutalised flesh. The transformation was disgusting and incredibly unnerving. Everything pulsed in a steady rhythm and there was still no end in sight. Despite the fact that the single hallway hadn't changed in size, it seemed to almost shrink around the two hedgehogs, constantly threatening to close in and squeeze them to nothing.

Sonic had no sense of Claustrophobia. He merely kept walking, keeping also an eye out for any signs of trouble. It had been a long time since he had last come down here, the first being when he had gotten possession of the ugly estate. The second had been after the house had gone ballistic thanks to his absence, and he had descended to this floor, with his staff of power no less, to examine the damage. This wasn't too bad on his scale of overall supernatural creepiness. He had endured and controlled worse things than this, though it seemed to him that something had come by here, that was upsetting the delicate balance of contentedness in his home. The jailed spirits and apparitions held within the basement could be heard whispering and hissing in anger. Indeed, something that didn't belong had disturbed them.

Every step they took left small impressions upon the floor, which pooled almost instantly with what nobody had to guess to be blood. The dead had a constant obsession with the living, thus many hauntings involved the tormenting spirit changing the appearance of the grounds to appear more organic. Making walls bleed and the like were only a taste of the lengths they would go through to remind themselves of what it had been like to be alive.

The only thing telling Sonic that Knuckles had truly come this way was that there was a long skid-like impression on the floor, denoting that something heavy had been dragged through here. The red fluid stood out defiantly in the dim light. Just how old the trail was, though, he did not know. With any luck it wasn't too old. It wouldn't be good to have that echidna down here any longer than necessary. There was no telling also, of what would be with him once they found him. It had been a full year since he had last come down here, and by no means did ghosts let things remain the same. Most enjoyed screwing with the layout of things (or at least the ones that lived in his basement did), and so Sonic wasn't putting any bets that getting around would be as easy at had been the previous two times he'd decided to visit. Already he had noticed that the single hallway was considerably longer than before, and just what that entailed…

"Sibling… are we there yet?"

"Shh!"

The hissings became furious grumblings for a split of a second. The locals weren't liking the noises.

"Shadow!" he hissed. "I told you to keep you mouth shut! Now do that or all seal it shut!"

The black and red hedgehog scowled at his fraternal twin. He wasn't very sure why he had to be so quiet. Being quiet was alienating. Talking made him feel more at ease.

Meanwhile, Sonic was hoping his brother's antics wouldn't get them killed. The ghosts he kept were of a vengeful streak, and didn't take kindly to those they thought didn't belong. They more or less were leaving them be, since he was there, and he was their caretaker. But Shadow was a stranger, and he thus was not a part of the general fold. If they really didn't like him, they would lash out to say so, and if they did Sonic wouldn't be able to stop them.

Why so many of them were active was a question that was seriously bothering him as well. He had gone through many pains to put the majority of them to permanent sleep so that the house would be liveable and the mishaps kept to a minimum. But for some reason a fair majority of them, most being quite grouchy from the lengthily slumber, were very awake, and eyeing the both of them with contempt. Gaining the begrudging respect of a ghost was one thing, getting them to remove 'begrudging' from that was a lot harder than people thought, and Sonic just didn't have the time to accomplish that. Best to keep low.

The hall just kept going. Shadow was really beginning to wonder if they were actually going anywhere at all. He chanced a look backwards, finding only blackness.

When he looked back forwards, however, he found that his brother was gone, as was the light.

- - -

The thing competing with Tails had reached the entrance into the schoolyard. It eased itself up the sidewalk, never blinking or taking its gaze from the furry bundle of gold.

Tails was straining with this game. His opponent was a good starer! This was a challenge he could deal with.

The reason for why this stranger could stare so well was revealed as the body came into the weak light of the school's lamps. The red glow from of the eyes, banished by the real-world lights, was replaced by the ghastly sheen of dead white. No lids served to protect the ocular instruments, only scarred muscle showing where they might have been before.

This didn't strike Tails as entirely odd, since he lived with a blue hog, a red echidna, and a black and red thing that resembled a hog. There were things inside his house that were plenty strange too, and he liked telling his classmates about those a lot, because they thought they were scary.

Hackles raised, the thing left the sidewalk to advance on the unmoving creature. The red worms on its back writhed viciously in its anticipation for another catch.

Tails finally blinked, rubbing at his eyes to vanquish the sting of keeping them open for so long. When he looked back up, all he caught sight of was a set of teeth hurtling towards him before everything became wet, stifled, and black.

* * *

Yes, I'm alive. Or more precisely, this fic is alive, and it's all thanks to you lot. Give yourself a hug! Anyway, yes, there were no flashbacks in this chapter, but something better is on the way. Next instalment will give you all a chance to pick Shadow's brain, and we'll just see what we'll find. What has happened to Tails? Knuckles? And Sonic? Stay tuned, and all shall be partially revealed in fourteen days time. 


	7. The Hole Gets Bigger pt1

Disclaimers: Sonic and his fungiferous friends all belong to the SOnic Team and Yuji Naka.

But all other forms of existence are _mine_.

I got hit by a blast of writer's block while writing this, so the chapter is not as long as it could have been. **I warn you now**, that this chapter is not all happy-go-lucky-stupid like the rest that came before. It is darker, as it deals with a bit of Shadow's past. It will seem confusing at first, but I promise you that everything will be cleared up in due time.

* * *

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE HOLE GETS BIGGER – pt 1

Something was up.

Sonic angled his head to peer behind him to make sure his twin wasn't doing anything stupid. He staggered to a halt when he found that his brother was no longer with him.

- - -

Knuckles was a little sore from the poking he had been receiving for the past several who-knows-how-long. His captives, the skinless human-things with equally skinless dog-heads, had upped their pace. He guessed their destination was nearing.

The echidna was right. Soon enough, what looked to be a darker blot amongst the mists, slowly morphed into a dome, then a great mound as the scarlet fog finally cleared. He couldn't tell what it was made of. It rose at least a thousand feet into the air, with some what looked to be small pyres of the nameless stuff rising a little further upwards in no particular order. The thing had the appearance of some kind of cancerous lump, and he didn't like the sight of it one bit.

With the clearing of the mists he could see farther into the distance as well. The earth, cragged and dry, stretched out forever, broken by ridges of red rock. Far off, he had to squint a little to see, was what he guessed to be the source of the awful fog. A tall column of bright scarlet reached up into the sky, widening as it rose until it coated the whole of the atmosphere. The funnel of mist spread its ugliness everywhere, drowning everything it touched in a perpetual sea of haze and blindness. He couldn't tell what rested at the very base of the ugly vortex. He found himself questioning a second time just where on earth he was.

The two things, the one to his right that constantly called him a parrot skipping merrily, were crossing the turf in a near run. The mound loomed over them, revealing but one entry as they neared. The massive puncture wound arched up from the ground, holding nothing but a gross blackness within. The three entered without a word.

The echidna blinked several times in attempts to banish the darkness, hoping it was just an illusion. Much to his disappointment, the shadows remained. His eyes adjusted as well as they could, revealing very little to his sight. All he could tell was that they were in a hall of some kind, and he was sure there were other beings like his new 'friends' walking about in it. Some he could tell were stopping in whatever they were doing to stare at what their comrades had dragged home. Some were pointing and giggling.

"Hey, look! Dabby's brought home another pet!"

"I bet you forty bucks ma'll eat it."

"I bet you my lucky boxers she'll marinate it and eat it on a stick."

"Aw, look, it's a puppy!"

"Ew, that thing's ugly."

These and other statements sounded from all over. Knuckles was slowly turning green. He guessed that 'Dabby' was the loser of the card game he had stepped in on, and who was currently adamant that knuckles was some sort of talking circus attraction.

They took him further into the dark mound, the shadows getting impossibly thick as they went. Soon, Knuckles couldn't see any farther than a few feet in front of him.

The hairs on the back of his neck started to stand as they neared some kind of _presence_. The red echidna couldn't see for the life of him what it was, but from the soft sloshing noises that came from whatever it was, it probably wasn't something he would have wanted to see anyway.

"Hi, ma!" greeted Dabby to the thing in the shadows.

The thing sloshed some more in the dark. Some wet noises came from high, high above.

"I brought you something!"

More sloshing. "Oh, you brought mumsy a gift, Dabbers?" came a voice. The walls reverberated with its magnitude.

"Yup!" replied Dabby. "It's a new pet! It's a…" he snapped the fingers on his free hand. "A freak parrot!" he concluded. Knuckles rolled his eyes and sulked. "It talks, see?" He poked the echidna with a boney finger.

"Ow!" he protested.

The probably very massive thing in the dark sloshed. "Oh, my, what a thing," said the thing.

"Can we keep it, ma?" pleaded Dabby. His partner scoffed. "Please?" he added for good measure.

Knuckles tried to sink into his pot helmet, which he realised was still sitting on his head.

The form in the shadows considered its offspring's request. "Mummsy will have to think about it, Dabby-kins," it said a length. "We don't know where it's been. It could be very unhealthy."

Knuckles gawped, insulted as his hygienic integrity was yet again bombarded.

"I'll give it a bath!" suggested the creature clutching at the echidna.

A bit of silence. "Hmm," hummed the thing. "All right, you can give it a bath. Bring it back to me later to see. Until then, keep it somewhere where it won't cause trouble, okay, Dabbers?"

"Okay!"

"Good."

'Dabbers' and his brother scuttled off into the gloom, the red furred being in tow.

- - -

Shadow didn't feel very safe without his brother in this horrible place. The walls were pulsing unnaturally and he felt like he was very much being _stared_ at. He hated being stared at.

He had never liked being eyed for longer than a second, not by anybody. It had been something he had despised, and retaliated against, when he was little.

_Freak!_

He stopped instantly. That voice…

_Monster!_

It sounded like…

_Demon!_

His brother…?

He threw his gaze about the cramped hall, demanding that whoever was responsible for the insults to step forwards.

_Fool_…

His red sight landed ahead of him, and right where there had been nothing but a second ago, stood his twin.

Or at least, he thought it was his twin… he couldn't quite see. He squinted in the dark. "Sibling?" he called. "Is that you?" There was soft laughter from everywhere.

_Sibling is that you?_ came the faint echo. Shadow couldn't tell is it was his brother's voice, or his own.

If it was his brother in the shadows, he must have been smitten with some form of nostalgia. He was wearing his old, old poncho-like robes from before the first War, and he had his braids back. He wore no shoes or gloves, exposing the wicked set of black talons they both sported in proof of their training from Ages past. He could see the other grinning.

"Sibling?"

_Sibling?_ He was sure the other was talking, but why was the voice so faint? He cautiously continued forwards inch by inch.

"Stop that, Sonic, it's juvenile!"

_Stop that, Sabnoi, it's juvenile!_

He stopped, glaring in the dark. That grin was rather wide, he thought. What kind of game was he playing at? "If you want to play hardball, Azul, then fine. But I suggest you leave it until we get out of here."

_What's the matter? Afraid?_

Shadow scowled. "I'm not afraid, Sonic."

_I'm not afraid, Sabnoi_.

He could hear a baby crying off in the distance. What was this? "Sonic, I demand that you stop this foolishness!"

_Stop it, Sabnoi_.

He growled.

_Make me_.

He could feel hundreds, no, _thousands_ of eyes staring at him. It was making him feel jittery. He looked behind him again in suspicion. When he peered back he saw that his brother had neared by a few steps, seemingly without moving. Wait… those didn't look like his robes…

"Sonic?" More stares. So many!

A brief flash of a green field, one he recognised as the clearing that had been made for his home village, blasted in his mind's eye for the split of a second. He could recognise all the Hedgeling children there. He blinked the vision away, trying to concentrate on his brother. He took a mild step backwards in his delirium.

All the children, were _staring_ at him.

Was he so different?

_Freak!_

_Ha!_

_Weirdo!_

More flashes of the field. He tried to banish the sights, but the sounds! They were everywhere! Echoing inside his head! He rubbed at his eyes with the palms of his hands. When he looked up again, his twin had come closer again. The grin was so white it was impossible. There was something wrong with his fur… why was it so dark? That wasn't his usual pattern of braids.

"Sibling?" he called again. He was starting to get unnerved.

_Sibling?_

"Please, Sonic, stop that!"

_It's not fair! Make them stop!_

He nearly fell backwards with the force of the next flash of memories. He was surrounded by the other children, all of them staring shamelessly at him, whispering and pointing. Outside of that ring was his brother, his expression flat. How small he was then…

The dark corridor came back to torment his sight, his grinning antagonist a great deal closer now.

_Stop staring at me!_

Wait a minute… that wasn't his brother…

_You're a freak! You don't belong here!_

That crazed grin was gone. The thing was close enough now that Shadow could truly see it. He gasped as he looked into his own face.

Red braids, twined with beads to make the hairs loop in an intricate knot, fell nearly to the floor. Innumerable rings crafted from bronze, gold, silver and platinum hung from his ears and any available space that could be pierced. The spines were considerably longer and had definite points that made them look _lethal_. A ornamental robe fashioned from animal skins hung off his thin shoulders, moth-eaten and battered. The only thing missing was the staff he coveted.

Shadow almost didn't recognise himself.

His clone wore a fierce scowl, the fur, if not matted by grime and filth, was standing on all ends. It lifted a skinny hand to point at him with a black talon that resided where a finger would have been. He found himself briefly recalling the gruelling procedure that cost him those digits.

"What do you want?" he asked himself.

The angry gaze showed no colour, only whites. A horrible rattle escaped the thing in reply.

Shadow flinched at the terrible sound.

He was back in his childhood, surrounded by the other children. A sharp pain exploded on his left shoulder. Someone had thrown a rock. There was no opening in the ring of spectators. His brother hadn't moved.

Something warm and wet brought him back to the present. He cast a quick glance at his furry shoulder. His eyes widened. Why was he bleeding? He shot his gaze back up to his clone. The thing hadn't moved, though a slow grin was creeping over its features.

_Freak! Leave!_

He put his hands over his ears in feeble defence of blocking out the jeers.

_I'm not a freak!_

"Why are you doing this?!" he cried, not sure if it was the clone or the walls that were responsible.

The double was inches from his nose. He could see with revulsion that the thing had begun to decay, the skin sinking into the skeleton steadily.

_You did this to yourself. There is no-one to blame but yourself._

Back on the field, more pebbles flew at him, one striking against the side of his head. With a shaking hand he grabbed one of the jagged stones from the grass. His blue twin still remained outside the ring, watching him with that infuriating red stare. It was if he was _daring_ him. Wait a minute… Sonic's eyes were _green_…

The clone had become so drawn it looked as though it would snap in two at any moment.

He tested the weight of the rock, cast a quick glance upwards, and threw the thing at his tormentors.

_This was your own choice_.

The stone sailed through the air and pelted against one of the smaller children, who fell back to the green. His brother was grinning at him now. There was something wrong with his fur… a black swathe had begun to crawl over the indigo colouring, burning away the pigment. The blue stuff fell to the ground in strings.

_This monster was of your own making_.

The assaulted Hedgeling child hit the grass in a heap, all heads turned to see. The figure didn't get up. Everything froze, the air turned a violent shade of mauve, the ground reduced its covering of green to ashes, which fell into the sudden onslaught of cracks that threaded the earth. The forms of the shocked children, gathering around the felled body slowly vanished to thin air.

His brother was still standing alone in the field. Or at least, it should have been his brother. He could only see himself, hardly into his pre-teens, grinning like a sadist.

Shadow clutched at his eyes and shrieked. The clone broke and fell to the ground, disappearing in a blink.

_No-one to blame but yourself_…

The creature shuddered on his feet, staring at his hands as he slowly pulled them away from his eyes. Tears were streaking down his face.

- - -

Sonic searched the immediate space for his meddlesome fraternal twin. Where did that idiot go? He scowled at nothing, remaining plastered where he stood. He considered this new turn in events. Shadow wasn't so stupid as to go off without him in a place like this, unless he had gotten a recent concussion he hadn't been the deliverer of. He didn't call for him.

His gaze shifted carefully about the walls, searching. Something was up.

The apparitions around him were oddly still again, as if trying to cover something up. "Which one of you was it…" he hissed softly to the horde. There was no answer.

Not that he expected any. He suspected that this wasn't a personal attack on himself, but Shadow. But why? True, Shadow didn't belong here in their eyes, since he had never been integrated into the fold by him earlier, which would have to be something to add to his very long 'to-do' list once they got back. They wouldn't hurt him, he was sure, but they would toy with him. His brother didn't know how to properly defend himself against the influences of ghosts. They would prey on his psyche and do an awful lot of damage if the chance presented itself.

As a rule most undead of the ghastly variety fed off the fears of others. That also ranged to guilt and illusions to block away painful memories. He went stiff. Shadow had a lot of secrets buried away in his brain, and had obviously put them under proverbial lock-and-key, or else he wouldn't be so damn happy. The multitude of ghosts had probably seen this, and wanted to know just what such a thing would hide, and why. He turned and started down the hallway at a run. He knew what some of those secrets were, as he had helped the fool block them.

"Shadow!"

* * *

What the heck is going on? Find out in fourteen days! Stay tuned for more after a word from our sponsers. (I promise that the general dumb will return shortly.) 


	8. The Hole Gets Bigger pt2

Disclaimers: Sonic and his boisterous buddies all belong to the Soinc Team and Yuji Naka.

But everything else, including the wierdness and the strange, belongs to me.

I'm really starting to get into this fic. There'll be some more flash-backs in this installment, though I hope things aren't getting too wierd for you folks. If it is I can pull back on the strange and revert for a bit back to the original silly.

Anyway, I'm glad you're all enjoying the story thus far. And a big thank-you goes to Rebell, Taranea, Shadelathehedgehog, mistgirl 1212, Azure Inu, and Ciel the Hedgehog for all your reviews thus far, and everyone who has followed to this point! This wouldn't be happening without all of your support!

Alright, let the wierdness commence.

* * *

CHAPTER EIGHT: THE HOLE GETS BIGGER – pt 2

Knuckles was miserable. He still had his helmet at least, but it wasn't really helping.

'Dabbers' and his brother were carting the echidna off to some location in the dark. Just how many tunnels and archways they had passed in the near-blackness the mammal had no real idea. Apparently he was being taken someplace to be 'washed', since he was presumably 'unclean' to whatever lorded over this ugly place.

The red echidna was rather unprepared when he was set down. He ended up squealing loudly, as when he landed he didn't exactly hit land. "Ack!" The stuff was considerably thicker than water. "Sick!"

Dabby was bouncing on the tips of his toes. "Eee! It's talking!" His brother sighed and shook his head. "This is so great!"

The stuff was ending up in his nose. Knuckles sputtered. He could barely see! By some fluke or stretch of his incredibly sparse luck, he managed to dog-paddle himself towards the shallow end of whatever he was floundering in. He rubbed at his eyes in attempts at clearing them. His gloves were soaked! One of his captors was still giggling like an idiot.

At long last his eyes were clear. "Gah," he huffed as he peered about, blinking to banish the lingering stuff. Ick! The stuff surrounding him was milky white! Gross! What was it? The stuff was clinging to him in strings like wayward blankets of snot. Knuckles groaned in disgust. "Sooo grooosss…"

"Ha! It can sing too!"

He passed the aggravating thing a frown. He pulled off his helmet. The pot came away with a sucking noise, revealing the fur beneath his makeshift armour to be untouched by the white grime and very dry. He just wanted to go home.

Dabby's brother grunted. "Alright, let's wash it." He hopped into the pool, his brother following after.

Knuckles cringed and floundered in the same direction, moving away as quickly as possible, his helmet still in his grasp. "Stay away from me!" he shouted. The white stuff was difficult to wade through.

Unfortunately, the tall skinny beasts weren't slowed in slightest. Dabby motioned to his sibling that it would be much more fun to terrorise the thing than to catch it immediately.

He couldn't swim with the pot. His toes were only just touching the floor, the fluid reaching past his chin. He could barely see still, thanks going mainly to the near complete lack of light. He just wanted to go home! He didn't want to be reduced to a house pet! He was already in a terrible position, status-wise, in the home of his landlord, but at least Sonic had a small amount of respect for him. It had taken him a long while, two years today, to gain that, and he wasn't about to trade it for some sorry post on the lap of some animal collector. He turned around in the mulch, a scowl set on his face. His keepers were still advancing on him, though slowly.

Knuckles hefted his pot upwards to break through the grime, taking a step forward to gain a better footing on the unseen ground. The red pinpricks of light shining from the eyes of the creatures affirmed their shifting position in the heavy darkness. "Keep away from me!" shouted the animal at them. A light giggle answered him. The echidna was used to not being taken seriously, after all his landlord didn't have a whole lot of faith in anyone besides himself. He had been ridiculed by the blue hedgehog for over three years for what he had deemed to be a total lack of competence, but Knuckles had proven himself and had put a relative curb to Sonic's constant insults at his expense. He could still recall the other's concealed surprise at his feat of strength upon his return from the volcanic islands of Jawai'i.

"_So, you're not so useless after all… I may have underestimated you." The green eyes were narrow, sizing the echidna up with this new information in mind. He passed a glance to the ruins of where his house had once stood but a moment before. "Regardless, it seems our job is only half-done."_

_Knuckles was still out of breath, the fox mutant standing behind him. He had more bruises than he could possibly count and the small open wounds covering his body were stinging horribly. "That's all you have to say?" he quested incredulously. "After all that's happened?" He took a step forwards. "What makes you think I want to take any further part in this madness?"_

_Sonic gave him a glare. "You may have proven yourself less helpless in my eyes, echidna, but for as long as you stay under my roof, you will do what I say." He waved a hand and the glowing staff wrenched itself from the hands of the blond I.S.I.D. Director. The blue hedgehog caught it easily and the staff erupted with colour and feral energy. "And as far as I know… you can't go anywhere else…"_

He had always puzzled over what Sonic had meant. Either way, that didn't matter at the moment. His life could very well be at stake, once again, and he had to preserve it for his own sake if anything.

He had a firmer hold on the ground at the bottom of the pool. The stuff was only halfway up his neck now. He had more freedom with his arms now, just enough, and it would be all he needed. "I'm warning you!" he shouted at his harassers. They still didn't slow.

"Aw, it's trying to be tough! How cute!" giggled Dabby.

"Alright, I'm getting tired of this, let's just clean it and take it back to ma," snorted the other being.

They were too close for comfort. Best to make his point now. "I said back off!" He swung the pot, smacking it into the boney hip of Dabby's brother. The beast shrieked in pain and stumbled in the broth.

He had said it once, he had said it, and proven, a thousand times, Knuckles had a powerful arm. Anything the same size of or larger than a stick was a weapon in his hands. The red echidna was also not inclined to violence in any way, as he had learned at an early age that play-fighting with his kind of refined strength was dangerous to others. Unfortunately, living with Sonic had proven to be quite a hurdle for his pacifist ways. He had thrown more punches under Sonic's mansion roof than he had during the whole twelve or so years he had experienced before even hearing his name for the first time. He had also learned during his stay with the temperamental hedgehog, that mercy was not something to be practiced with things that didn't consider you to be a 'person'.

Thus, Dabby and his brother were not going to be spared. The echidna landed another smack to the creature's hip. The thing crumpled and fell into the white stuff. He wouldn't be able to stand for a fair while. Dabby was certainly surprised. His pet had gone crazy!

Knuckles waded as quickly as possible for the shore, straining to see what was around him. His eyes were hurting from the strain, but were slowly giving him a better view of the chamber.

"Grag! Stop it! Kill it!" shouted the second beast. He flailed in the muck.

Dabby quickly got over the fact that his find would never be his pet, and went for the animal with no reservations. He caught up with the retreating echidna easily. He reached for him.

"Get away fro me!" hollered the scarlet mammal, spinning around and swinging the heavy pot.

The piece of silverware made contact with the long fingers with a loud crack. The skinless creature howled and jerked his hand away.

Knuckles strove for the dry. He finally broke away, his pursuers caught in their throes of pain. Dabby and his brother had begun to shout out, calling for aid, and telling that whoever had a weapon was to skewer the echidna on the spot.

Not too thrilled at having being brought down to the level of a convict, but not really able to do anything about it, the mammal ran for the walls. He searched for an exit.

A hole, dark and small, loomed in the uneven make of the red mound. Knuckles veered towards it and threw himself inside. The tiny hole was just big enough for him to climb through, pot and all. He scrambled inside, shimmying into its depths as quickly as possible. The hole swiftly proved to be a tunnel, but where it lead… he could only guess. The sounds of anger faded away quickly.

Surrounded by darkness, Knuckles scrambled on the oddly moist material to freedom.

- - -

Shadow clutched at his eyes, trying desperately to banish the thoughts flying trough his mind. The tears were still flowing freely.

Where had his brother been? When he had been surrounded by the other children? Where had he been to protect him from himself? The black and red hedgehog looked up from his near-foetal position.

His younger self stared back at him with a blank expression. The mauve expanse remained, the earth cracked and starved.

Spit was trundling from his mouth in his increasing shock. This was something he had never been trained to endure. He had been warned… so many times… of the consequences of his position. His brother had warned him as well, and had tried on several occasions to talk him out of taking the same road he himself had already been walking.

"_Don't be an idiot, Sabnoi! Go home!"_

"_I don't want to! It's not fair! You get to do everything, Azul, and I hardly get let outside!" He stared his fraternal twin down. "Let me come!"_

"_No!" Azul shook his head and waved his arms. "You can't! I won't let you! You don't know what it's like!" He put out his hands. The entirety of his hands had been wrapped in strips of cloth down to the wrists. His fingers were curled into claws, the cloth stained scarlet. "You have no idea!" he shouted. "Just go home!"_

"_No! Anywhere is better than the village, I hate the way the other children laugh at me!" There were tears in his eyes. "No-one laughs at you."_

_Azul's expression was pained as his brother tried to stand straight as his tears streaked down his face. "They may not laugh…" he said softly. "But they hate me, Sabnoi…"_

_He shook his head. "How can they? You can do anything, Azul! You don't have to hide! Or… or sneak around to keep from being seen!"_

"_But you will be free, Sabnoi!" he told the other. "You only have to wait!"_

"_Free?" He lifted his arms in amazement. "How can you say that? I'll be exiled once I reach fourteen! I'll never see may family again!"_

"_But you'll be free!" Azul insisted. "You'll be free to roam as you like! No-one will be standing over you, watching your every move!" He gripped his twin by the shoulders. "You are better off they way you are. I envy you, Sabnoi."_

_He brushed him off. "You're lying. You're going to be able to do great things, and I will be left with nothing. I want to be able to do such things too."_

"_There is nothing great! It's a nightmare!"_

"_I've seen you! I--"_

"_You've been coming here?" He took a step back, ears flat against his head. "How could you?"_

_He didn't say anything. The setting sun blazed in the orange sky of the Neitherworld._

"_You made a promise! You promised me you would never come here during the day!" He gawped at him. "You could have been caught! Do you have any idea of what they would have done to you?"_

"_I don't care!" he shouted back. "I want to be more than just a ghost! Like you!"_

_Azul's glare was fierce. "You're crazy…"_

"_I've seen you…" he continued. "So amazing… I want to be able to do the same."_

"_What… what have you seen…?" he questioned quietly, his gaze piercing. He scowled when the other didn't answer. "What did you see, Sabnoi?!"_

_He met his brother's gaze evenly. There was a slight grin on his face._

_The blue Hedgeling grabbed him by the front of his clothing. "Answer me!" He released him and clutched at his head. "Don't come here again, Sabnoi! I forbid you to! If you do, then so help me I'll… I'll…" He suddenly turned and ran from him, hands to his face. The distant sound of sobbing followed him to nothing._

Shadow stared at the apparition of his former self. His brother hadn't been with him when he had retaliated against the other children.

But he had warned him, like his parents, told him to stay at home and out of sight. When the clan leaders had come to see what had happened, those who had been there instantly blamed it all on him, not saying anything of their own part in the cruelty.

Shadow had pleaded his case, of the indignities being thrown at him, both figurative and physical. But no-one would listen. He was the freak, the anomaly amongst the perfect; what did his word mean? Nothing. The child he hit with the stone lived of course, and regained health faster than expected. But that didn't matter. He had struck out against his genetic superiors, and that demanded punishment.

He remembered that Sonic had come to his defence, pleading his case before the elders. He had been in terrible shape, fur matted and stained, hands hidden out of site, dark rings under the eyes and more than one spine missing. It had been the first time he had seen him in a stretch of five weeks.

Shadow had gotten off with a minor flogging thanks to his intervention and sent back to his parents a little worse for wear. They had doubled their efforts to keep him within their sights afterwards, making it all the more difficult for him to sneak away and see the world beyond their little family hut.

The copy stared back at him balefully.

What would have happened… if he had heeded his twin's warnings about his training? Well, he knew that for one, he would have died a long, long time ago, of old age most likely. He would have died too, a _free_ being.

The ghastly expanse melted away, leaving him alone in the pulsating hall.

He stared at the floor, still on his knees.

- - -

"Shadow!"

Sonic was furious. He couldn't find his blasted twin, and the spirits in his basement walls weren't being of any help. Not that he really expected them to be of any help, of course. Ghosts didn't help people. A prize few did, but unfortunately, he had never been graced with such poltergeists.

"Shadow! Where are you?" Dammit, where was that dumb animal?

This wasn't the first time he had been the one to come to Shadow's rescue. The ball of soot was too rebellious for his own good, though this particular occurrence had nothing to do with that specifically. However he would admit that he had come to his aid as well when he had been in a few pinches, but those events were severely outnumbered by the former.

He shook his head and ploughed forward, searching for his lost sibling.

"Shadow!"

- - -

He threw his gaze about the fleshy corridor. He thought he had heard a voice.

"Shadow!"

"Sibling? Sonic!" he called back, standing. "Is that you!"

Sonic stopped in his power-walk, moving up towards one of the walls. He pressed an ear against the disgusting material. "Shadow! Are you there!"

"Yes! Sibling, where are you?"

"Don't move! Stay where you are!" he hollered, moving down the wall, ear against the haunted surface. "I'm coming for you, so don't do anything stupid!"

Shadow instantly made a face. "What's that supposed to mean?" he shouted indignantly.

Sonic rolled his eyes, still working along the wall. "I mean don't move! And don't do anything dumb!"

"How am I supposed to do anything?" he cried back, standing alone in the gloom. "It's your house! Hence, all of this is your fault!"

"What?!"

"Your ghosts don't know how to treat guests!" he retorted snobbishly, nose in the air. "Though I guess they wouldn't have learned any courtesy from you, either way!"

"Rrrggh! Shadow, you ignoramus! I had told you to stay quiet! And what did you do?"

"I asked you if we had reached our destination!" he replied. "There's nothing wrong with that!"

Sonic grit his teeth. "You couldn't just wait until we got there?! I'm sure even you would have figured out we would have reached our 'destination' when we actually reached it! Unless you forgot what it looks like, you absent-minded dipstick."

"I heard that!" Shadow stomped his foot. "You arrogant quack! If you had a better grip on things as a whole yourself, this wouldn't have happened in the first place!"

Sonic growled and continued his search as his brother rambled off wherever he was. At least his annoying voice would lead him straight to him. He just needed to find…

He frowned. What was that noise?

A rhythmic thumping reached his ears, soft and distant. It was too fast to be coming from the walls…

Sonic lifted his ear from the warm walls of the hall to scan the darkness. The sound was getting louder. The ghosts were hissing in great discontent.

A huge form, based on four legs, came rushing out from the shadows. Its fur was clumped and matted, the dead, lidless eyes glaring out into space. The missing lips leaving the teeth exposed, pointing in different directions from blood red gums. The stomach was viciously distended and nearly dragging on the ground. Was it wriggling? Whatever it had eaten wasn't happy about it.

Whatever the thing was, it shot past the blue hedgehog without slowing its pace in the slightest.

Sonic was flabbergasted. He had a feeling that what was writhing in the creature's intestine was something that belonged to _him_.

"Tails!" He started after the beast, but quickly stopped. He still had to free his brother, who was still rambling to himself. Sonic let the beast go, he would have to catch it later. He moved quickly, ear against the wall a second time. The noise of his twin rose sharply. There! Without a moment's hesitation he plunged a hand into the flesh of the wall before the break moved to another space.

Shadow yelped as a gloved hand shot from the wall and grabbed him.

Sonic pulled hard.

The black hedgehog shrieked as his hand disappeared into the sick wall of the corridor. He tried to yank his hand away.

The blue hog growled. "Shut up, Shadow! I'm trying to get you out of there!"

Shadow smacked into the wall. He groaned, his body pressed against the apparitional flesh. It was so gross. "Ack! Well couldn't you be a little more orthodox?!" he screamed.

"Since when were you one for conventions?" he bit. "Stupid hypocrite."

Shadow's head disappeared into the wall, and popped out the other side with a sucking noise. He blinked stupidly at his brother, who was still hauling on his arm. "Speak for yourself!" he yelled. The awkward feeling coursing through his system was telling him that is body was being hauled through an inter-dimensional-space rift, the two locations possibly being even miles apart. You could never tell with ghosts.

With an odd burping sound the wall relinquished the rest of the dark hedgehog, who tumbled into the form of his fraternal twin, knocking them both to the floor.

Sonic shoved his brother off of him. "Get off me, freak!"

Shadow froze. He stared at nothing. _Freak!_

The blue hog stumbled to his feet, glaring at his downed brother. "Hey, get up, fool!" He grabbed his arm and hefted him into a standing position. "What's the matter with you! Head in the clouds? Let's go!"

He dashed off, his brother in hand. The two barrelled down the ugly hallway after a target known to only one runner.

* * *

Ah, the plot thickens... sorta. Stay tuned after the commercals for a special message from our anthropomorphic friends. I'll see you all again in fourteen days. 


	9. The Hole Gets Bigger pt3

Disclaimers: Sonic and his posse all belong to the Sonic Team and Yuji Naka.

But everything else besides is mine. MINE!

* * *

CHAPTER NINE: THE HOLE GETS BIGGER - pt 3

He had been crawling around for hours it seemed. The red echidna was dog tired, and there was no end to the tunnel in sight. The gunk from the pool had more or less dried from the humidity at this point, and from what little he could see at the moment, had left a plainly disgusting pale organic cowl on his form. It clung to him like dead skin, and it was absolutely revolting.

The heavy pot was still very firmly set in his grasp. He wasn't going to let the thing out of his right hand for anything.

The tunnel seemed to be rising at a slight inclination. Whatever moist material that made up the mound and what he was currently crawling on was slicking his figure and making climbing difficult. His knees were encased in the thin slime that coated the reddish stuff and his gloves were saturated through.

Knuckles' disposition at the moment very much revolved around 'the world is out to get me', which had been his general frame of mind since he had moved in with that blue-furred powder-keg of an animal, Sonic. He had been a very modest creature when he had left his Canyon home, polite and accommodating. The hedgehog had taken full advantage of his well-mannered nature, and used it to walk all over him. The bitter being deemed that his actions were completely justified under the pretence that Knuckles was essentially spineless, and needed to grow a backbone. If he couldn't stand up to him, then he was as useful as a doormat. The echidna, as a result, had become rather bitter himself, though this was thankfully limited only to his landlord, though he still hadn't really gained any spunk since. Fighting and being mean were not in his blood.

There was a sharp slope, nearly sending him sliding back down the tunnel. He used the handle of his piece of travelling silverware to keep from falling too far, jamming the thing into the soft material fiercely to hold his position. Knowing he wouldn't be gaining any headway if he let go, he braced himself with his shoes pressed against the walls. With his body secured in space he wrenched the pot free and jammed it into the tunnel wall again, this time higher up, and hauled his bulk to its level. This continued for a long while, until the winding wormhole finally levelled out again.

Needless to say, Knuckles was exhausted. Sweat was pouring off of him in waves and there was little he could do to condition himself to all the heat and exertion. It was too bad he didn't have one of those little battery-powered mini-fans on him. He blamed bad luck.

- - -

Meanwhile, Sonic was dragging his twin through the pulsating hallway of his basement, chasing after the creature that had shot past him earlier. The beast had Tails, and was more than likely the reason his very dead permanent houseguests were so restless. Just what the thing had been however, he had absolutely no clue, but he had a vague feeling that whatever had created it was someone he knew very well.

Shadow was stumbling along after his brother, nearly tripping and falling flat on his face with every step taken. He wasn't nearly as fast as Sonic was, not by a long shot. Whatever speed he possessed in the fantasy world of 'Sonic gaming', was the sole property of movie magic, and the freakish shoes he was forced to wear onstage. The things were hideous and uncomfortable, and hence he never wore them offset. However this was also the reason why he was moving as slow as molasses, not that the shoes would have made that much of a difference anyway. Just how Sonic had attained his speed, only he, and probably Core, knew, and he had never been keen on sharing his secrets regardless of what they were.

The voices of the ghosts were ringing out from every direction at once. The fleshy walls were pulsing and twitching so erratically it looked painful, as if something was about to burst through.

For what seemed forever the pinkish expanse flew by, every inch writhing under its own power.

The earth was literally flying under Sonic's feet he was running so fast. Where was that creature he had just seen? There was no way they could have passed it, the hall was small in width, and none aside from himself could possibly pass through the walls without having their souls torn in twine. It was making him angry. He was surprised when they finally stopped.

Shadow nearly fell over himself from the sudden reduction in speed from mach 23 to 0.

They had reached the end of the hallway.

The walls were a pitch red, with veins of pink and yellow intertwined through the ungodly mess. The mass was jiggling in great lumps, quivering and pulsing in a defined rate cycle. The air was thick with gross humidity, amplifying the squishing noise that constantly sounded from the floor, ceiling, and everything in between. A single pit rested before the end wall, hardly circular, scarlet and ragged like some grievous wound. It didn't have to reach far before the interior was swallowed by darkness. The beast was nowhere in sight, and there was only one way it could have gone.

"Well… I suppose that the way down hasn't changed much?" bubbled Shadow, regaining his sense of zero G-force slowly.

Sonic crossed his arms. "Nope. Suppose not." That thing he saw must have gone down the hole already. But how could it have passed him? He was the fastest thing on two legs. He'd done the math. "We're going down," he announced.

"Urg. Can we wait first?" asked the other, hand to his head. "I'm still trying to remember which way 'up' is."

"Hmph. Too bad. Your fault. Let's go." He grabbed his twin for the umpteenth time and stepped over the edge of the hole.

Without a sound, they both plummeted into the black.

- - -

Knuckles nearly fell through the air to the ground hidden below.

The tunnel had abruptly ended, dropping into darkness. Gripping the lip of the opening with fevered strength he peered downwards as well as he could with his inferior night vision. There was a slight, faint glow coming from below, rising up through the gloom in pale patches of black-blue-white. The more he looked at them, the more he questioned over whether it was real light he was looking at, or that his eyes were simply playing tricks on him from the strain of looking through such heavy darkness.

He looked back up, trying to see if maybe the tunnel continued over the hole. From what he could tell, which wasn't much, there was no further travelling to be had in that direction.

The echidna looked down again, hoping to glean a few more details. He got nothing more than he had before, which was close to nothing.

He supposed he had to make some sort of choice. It was either stay in the tunnel and go nowhere, go back the way he had come, or chance the chasm he had found. None of the three were looking very attractive. He wished there was a door marked 'number four'.

With his options as brutally limited as they were, he eventually begrudgingly decided on braving the dark blot that rested below him. If he was lucky (not likely), then the lights could mean that there was a definite bottom, and perhaps he would be able to hide there until he could formulate a better escape plan. If all else failed, well at least he would be able to finally say 'hi' to his great-great-grandpa before Sonic derooted his soul from eternal rest and threw it to some purgatory-world for kicks.

Knuckles took a deep breath, held it, and threw himself over the edge. He glided lightly downwards from his former perch, keeping a careful gaze as possible out for any danger. The animal kept to tight circle from his launch area, not wanting to chance crashing in mid-flight. As he descended the glowing patches became sharper and seemed to spread, becoming groups of faint organic light.

The creature frowned a little as the ground finally came into view. The entire floor now seemed to be entirely encased with the slight glow. Just below the film of light he could see what appeared to be the base of this new location. It was covered in giant lumps of some kind, organised and packed tightly together. What were these? Fungus? Rocks? No… they looked too soft to be rocks, and too similar in form to be some random crop of fungi. Some even looked to have strings of what appeared to be a distant cousin of discarded skin.

It wasn't until he landed that he got even the slightest idea of what they were. "Eggs…?" The ova were larger than he was in both width and height, and smelled like boiled chicken egg whites. There was hardly enough room for him to stand in one place between the things. The milky white objects surrounded him on all sides, and to his extremely limited field of view, for a very long way in every direction. They were giving off a faint heat, which was multiplied by their sheer numbers to a near oven. He could hear some sloshing noises coming from some nearby.

He thought, his pot still in hand. Were these the eggs of those creatures he had just escaped from? No… couldn't be… the things were too large to be the birthing capsules of a creature so thin and gangly.

Even with his predicament not getting any better in any way, Knuckles was exhausted. He would need rest if he was going to try to get out of here. The eggs were making popping and cracking noises amongst the squishing. He supposed this was somewhat normal, and set himself on the wet ground, gloved hand encased about the handle of his all-important battle-pot. His soreness and stress winning out over fear and caution, he was lost to blissful sleep in mere seconds, surrounded by idols of reproduction.

- - -

Shadow wasn't really having a good… 'morning', he guessed it was. He was currently laying on his front, face in the ground, and had yet to deroot himself. It wasn't often he lost balance in an inter-dimensional rift, but he wasn't up to form today.

Sonic on the other hand was standing perfectly erect on the earth, hand over his eyes as he scanned the blasted red horizon for any sign of the beast he had encountered earlier. The fact that the land all around him was red, red and more red didn't faze him in the slightest. He had been here many times before, and it hadn't changed one bit.

He looked to the sky. The familiar swirl of scarlet air sucking inwards into a descending vortex far into the distance met his gaze. Nope, hadn't changed at all. It was still an incredibly ugly place. He wondered at what kind of welcoming party he and his brother were going to get once they reached the abode of their 'old friend'.

"Sibling… do you have any painkillers?" groaned the dark hedgehog from the ground, still plastered there.

"Grow a backbone, turd," scoffed the blue menace. "You can take a little pain."

"You're awful."

"I know."

They were surrounded by steep red mounds of earth on all sides save one, which more or less directed their advance, should they decide to actually move forwards. Though the two probably didn't have any choice in the matter anyway concerning the fact that their way in was nowhere to be seen, and thus it could be assumed that there was no way out at the moment.

Shadow eventually peeled himself from the earth as his twin continued to survey the landscape. Urg… even after all this time, falling from a height of a few hundred feet was never pleasant in the slightest. His back popped and cracked soundly, the vertebrae snapping back into place. He would be feeling that a good week from now. But that was provided they got back in in one piece.

"Get up, wuss, we're going," stated the bluer of the two.

"Get a little patience!" scolded the black and red hog. "I just got ploughed into the ground at a hundred and ten miles an hour! Show a little sympathy!"

"Pfft! Sympathy? Please, you of all people should know by now that 'sympathy' is not a part of my vocabulary."

He squinted at him. "Then why are you using it?"

Sonic shot him a glare. "It's a figure of speech, dimwit! Now get off your butt and start moving!"

Grumbling he obeyed.

With both of them rather peeved for reasons of their own but generally revolving around each other, the two mammals trekked down the only path available to them, which was forward, and slightly to the left.

The scarlet mist swallowed them both swiftly.

- - -

The two hedgehogs kept to the single path for what felt to be hours. They didn't slow, nor did they up their pace. The march was constant on the winding path.

"Sibling, do you have any food on you?"

Sonic frowned. "No."

"Nothing at all…?" he pressed.

"What did I just say? No! If you're hungry, you should have packed yourself some crackers or something. So there. Now just shut up and walk."

Shadow scowled at the back of his brother's head. "How was I supposed to know that we were going to be gone for so long?" he demanded childishly, hands in front of him in exasperation.

The other snorted dismissively. "Truly, Shadow, your memory rivals that of a goldfish. Maybe if you thought things out a bit more you'd recall that our last visit wasn't a walk in the park either. And if I do remember correctly…" he continued, throwing a sour glance behind him. "…You also whined like a juvenile over food that time too!"

Shadow upturned his nose. "Well, I'm a creature of habit," he defended lamely.

"You just insulted yourself."

"I did not!"

He rolled his eyes. "Nimrod."

"You take that back!"

Sonic whirled around, now walking backwards. "Why should I?" he demanded. "I'm not apologising for the mistakes you make!"

"Hmph!"

"Yeah, you do that," he snarled. Sonic turned himself back towards the forwards direction.

The bi-toned hog just frowned at the other, but kept quiet and sustained his pace behind his fraternal twin. Any trip with his brother was unbearable, no matter what it was, ever since he had made that damning decision to throw his freedom away alongside him. He looked away to the distance. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't blame his brother for that fate-sealing choice. If anything, he should have listened, and thanked him for the many warnings he gave him.

As the ghost of his former self had told him, he had no-one to blame for his current state, but himself.

Sonic fumed in the lead, wanting very much to kick something, but unable to spot anything other than stones that were too big for the job. Gods how his brother infuriated him! He was the pinnacle of the buffoon pyramid. He swore that someday he was going to have the publishing companies put Shadow's picture in the dictionary under the definition of 'fool'.

He always had to defy the rules! He always had to do the exact opposite of what he told him! Sonic nearly tore out his own fur in frustration. If Shadow had just listened to him even once, things would have been just that much simpler, better, and considerably less painful on more than one level. How many times had he bailed the idiot's fat out of the fire? Countless times! How many times had he warned him of what would happen if he pursued the forbidden arts? Innumerable times! It had been bad enough that he had been literally forced into the position of a Hedgeling War Shaman by the elders; but to have his own brother willingly offer himself up for spiritual slaughter in kind was and is a blow that he knew he would never be able to relive no matter his experiences before or after the fact.

His family had always been aware of the dangers of their children's inherent 'Gift', and had gone through many a painful mile to assure that their future wouldn't be marred by its presence. They had ostracised themselves from their bloodline, left their clan of birth and marriage, and took themselves and their children as far away as they could from those that knew of their secret. When they had finally settled in a tiny backwater village after a near year of travel, they had been so sure their worries were behind them… that their offspring would be safe at long last.

How wrong they were…

Sonic threw a fist at a rock wall in fury, cracking the appendage against the ungiving material soundly. Pain scored up his arm like lightning, but he didn't care, and gave the injury no heed. He could tell he had just splintered his arm.

Shadow wore a worried expression. His twin had just shattered his right arm against a rock. The limb was already turning purple and was bunched grossly in more than one place. Already though, he could see the wound mending from beneath the skin and muscle, the bones slowly shifting themselves back into their proper place to reset the limb back to its former make. Why did he just do that? Shadow wanted to ask, but couldn't muster the words to pose the question. He could tell his twin didn't want to be talked to at the moment. Although at any other time he would jumping all over this opportunity to piss the blue hog off, this time he decided to listen to those unspoken signals that told him to keep his mouth shut.

He swiftly found himself rather depressed.

If he blamed his brother for what happened… what did Sonic blame him for? There had always been tensions between them, regardless, and those stress points had somehow chronically grown in size ever since he had taken that one, simple step to damnation.

Shadow didn't notice his brother had stopped walking to look over their position until he knocked into him.

"Would you watch it?!" he exploded, pushing the darker of the two of them away in anger.

Shadow stumbled backwards. "…Sorry," he said.

Sonic stared at him, stunned. His surprise quickly degraded to frothing fury. "You're 'sorry'?" he interrogated. The other didn't answer. "You're 'sorry'?!" He threw up his arms.

It was Shadow's turn to scowl. "Is there something wrong with that, sibling?" he questioned back irritably.

"I don't believe you!"

"What?!" he yelled. "What did I do?!"

"It's more what you didn't do!" he shouted back, bristling crazily.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"I shouldn't have to _tell_ you!"

"Oh yeah?" He knew very much what was happening, but the snowball had been dropped, and now there was no stopping it. "I dare you to, Sonic."

"Is that so?" His eyes were dangerously narrow.

"You heard me! I dare you, Sonic! I DARE YOU!"

Sonic's fur was standing on all ends. He fought with himself, holding in a breath he knew would wedge the chasm that was already between himself and his only remaining family even wider than it had ever been. His face turned red, then purple, and finally, he burst. "This is all YOUR FAULT!" he shrieked.

Shadow scowled at him. "How is this my fault?" he demanded.

"You stupid, STUPID animal! If had just listened to me even ONCE this would not be happening!"

"Stupid am I? Well, I suppose you're just the sharpest tool in the shed, aren't you?!"

"Better than what you'll ever be!"

"I beg to differ!"

"Oh yeah?" He took a long step towards his brother and pressed his face against his in challenge. "Is that what really drove you to make that choice, Shadow? To be better than me? To upstage me?"

"You self-centred ass… how dare you assume that I made that choice to bring you down!"

"Then what was it? A dare to prove to our already broken parents that you didn't care a whit about what they told you?"

"You bastard!" he cursed, shoving his blue twin to the ground. "I loved mom and dad! There was nothing I wouldn't do for them!"

Sonic picked himself up from the ground. "Really?" he challenged. "Then why? You knew they would never heal if you took that road! And you did it anyway! I don't know about you, but I saw them literally die that day! They were nothing but zombies from that moment onwards!"

"You think me blind?!"

"YES! I DO!"

"So then it's MY fault they're hurt, isn't it?!"

"As a matter of fact, yes! It is your fault!"

Shadow's fur was standing on all ends. Never since the Cataclysm and the extinction of their race had he ever felt so angry. "You're no angel yourself!" he countered. "Never coming home! Never speaking for weeks at a time! Never being honest with them about what was happening!" He took a steadying breath. "You should have seen mother! She was so worried sick over you she nearly starved herself to death over it! She would never sleep! Never rest from all the pacing she did day in and day out! Father was a wreck! He didn't know what to do! He was nearly thrown from the council because the elders believed he was becoming unstable as well!"

Sonic roared and ploughed into his twin with enough force to break a brick wall, sending the black and scarlet being scraping against the ground. "Don't you DARE tell me that was because of me! Every chance I got I came home! Maybe you have forgotten, but not having the use of your legs rather INHIBITS one's ability to WALK!"

"Oh boo-hoo!" shouted Shadow. "Excuses excuses!"

"You little freak…"

"What did you call me?"

The blue hog grinned. "You heard me."

The other was livid. "You. Take. That. Back."

"Freak!"

"You…"

"FREAK!"

"You… I…" He was speechless and breathing hard. Never in all his life had that single word hurt so much.

Sonic had crossed an unseen barrier, and he knew it, and he also didn't care. "What's the matter, Shadow?" he hissed, eyes wide and ears flat. "Never thought you'd hear that word again?"

"I… I thought you were better than that," he quivered, trying to keep his anger. But it was swiftly dissolving into something else. "It seems as though I was wrong. You're no better than the others! Always thinking that you're higher than the next person! Always looking for the next scapegoat!"

The words hurt. "Well, I guess your continued stupidity towards reality in general has dragged me down to an all-new low."

There was water pooling at the corners of Shadow's eyes. "You're no brother of mine." He stifled a hiccup. "There's no way in all of Chaos that I would be related to something so sickening and moral-less!"

"Touché!" he shouted back. His voice was threatening to break, he fought to keep it in check. "I'd have to agree! There's no reason for me to even acknowledge the existence of something as debilitating as yourself!"

There was a spell of silence. The two just stared at each other, equally wounded in a battle of heated words.

Then as one, Sonic and Shadow each turned their backs to each other, and stalked purposefully in opposite directions.

* * *

A/N: Before my inbox comes under the possible threat of scalding 'are you stupid?' reviews, I will say that I'm fully aware that 'Mach 23' is currently (as far as to my knowledge) does not exist as a viable earth-bound speed. As of yet, non-space-rocket speed does not even reach Mach 10. This is a work of fiction, people. Real science has no place in this particular string of idiocy. When science happens, you'll know.

Otherwise, I'll see you again in fourteen days, then the Chaos will continue.


	10. Repulsed

Disclaimers: Sonic and his mutant pals all belong to the Sonic Team and Yuji Naka.

But everything else, including the giant worms, are mine.

I apologise for the incredibly late update, folks. Stuff happened, and I didn't have enough time to finish this chapter for the week before last. But because it's so obnoxiously late, all you faithful readers get this chapter, and a one-chapter short called 'Puft-Wheat Invasion' I made for fun. let the Chaos ensue, and enjoy. I'll see you all again in fourteen days.

* * *

CHAPTER TEN: REPULSED

Knuckles' strength had returned by the time he had woken up from his nap. This was all well and great, but it wasn't really having a good sway over the fact that he was very lost.

The gigantic ova surrounded him on all sides, spanning in every direction. He had been walking for a fair while now, and all that he had seen in this chamber since he had started was the eggs. The strange bioluminescent glow was everywhere, and a light powdered fog had begun to rise from the ground. The wisps were like water, nearly splashing against his knees as he continued on his way.

The red echidna was still trying to find a way out from the mound. He was sore, irritated, and hungry. On top of that he had no idea of what time it was nor how he was going get back home. He had no doubts that most of his predicament was most likely Sonic's fault. A lot of bad things that happened to him were because of him. People had always told him that he should have moved if living with the menace was so horrible. What those people never seemed to understand was that he had _tried_ to move away dozens of times before now. He had spoken to Core many times of the conditions he was under while in the hedgehog's house, but he had been subtly refused a new room and board each time he had brought the inquiry up. By the middle of his second year with the hog he had started to wonder if maybe he was being forced to remain with him. The constant replies of 'no-vacancies', renovation problems, 'no pets', and allergic reactions of possible roommates started to sound forced, if not contrived. The I.S.I.D. Director was an honest man, and Knuckles couldn't think of any reason the human would have to hoodwink him into staying with Sonic.

However, his suspicions had been given a perk not three months after the crazed event that made Sonic's house a diabolical monster that rampaged over half the city. He had once again set an appointment with the sturdy man to discuss a possible rearrangement of housing. The blue hedgehog was just too much to handle sometimes. It had been last minute, and he had been sitting patiently in the lobby of the Institution's greater wing, waiting for a chance to yet again plead his case for better lodgings. How surprised he had been, to see Sonic there.

Well, maybe 'surprised' was not the right word, as Sonic was often called to Core's office to speak with the man on various subjects. Maybe it was the fact that whenever such a meeting was due, he always made sure to tell everybody in the house about it, so that nobody got any ideas to do anything 'stupid' while he was away. What struck him as odd, was that the blue creature had said nothing about today.

Sonic had literally barrelled into the room, looking anything but happy, storming past him and the clerk, right into Core's office. Knuckles had been rifling through the basket of old magazines on the floor when he had come in, and had only caught sight of his shoes from under the chair when he had passed. He had wanted to ask him why he was there, but the hedgehog was gone by the time he had stood up. The clerk seemed a little shaken after the thing had let himself into Core's chambers, he must have given the poor woman quite a glare on his way in. She had quickly excused herself afterwards, looking as if she was about to break down from emotional shock. Not too long afterwards two men in business attire had scuttled out from the office, looking pale. They left swiftly enough.

By now Knuckles had been more than a little curious. It was overly apparent that Sonic had just barged in on the Director, and wanted to speak without any witnesses at hand. He too felt compelled to leave the area. But he didn't. The influence wasn't strong enough to deter his now rampant curiosity over what was going on. Against his better judgement, he had slinked up to the massive set of mahogany doors that served as the only entry to the head-man's working space, and eavesdropped.

_He pressed an ear to the wood, hoping to catch what was transpiring on the other side. If there was something wrong with Sonic's house, or the hedgehog himself, he didn't want to be left out of the know until the bitter end. The awkward feeling of being repulsed from the lobby was poking at his innards, but he ignored it._

"_Sonic, I trust you have a good reason for interrupting my meeting? The men you have just jettisoned from my office are very important to the well-being of this Institute."_

"_Feh. I'll put your petty meeting back together after. There are more pressing matters than funding and secrecy."_

"_Oh?"_

"_I need to talk to you about that echidna."_

_Knuckles blinked in confusion. What… what about him?_

"_Knuckles? Why?"_

_Sonic didn't immediately answer. "I want him out of my house."_

_He heard Core shift in his seat. "Why, Sonic? You know the terms of--"_

"_Don't throw that at me!" Knuckles nearly had to pull his ear away the retort was so loud. "You made that agreement, not me. It is not my responsibility to uphold whatever idiot promise you made. The rat is your baggage, not mine."_

"_Sonic," Core's voice was level. "I don't want to have to bring up your already __**very**__ strained relations with the City--"_

"_Do you think I care about their trivial opinions?"_

"_If you don't at least seem to be under control, Sonic, then I will be forced to put you back in The Vault. And the last thing I want to have to do is put Knuckles in there as well."_

_The echidna was sorely confused. He had heard of The Vault, it was where the I.S.I.D. kept weapons of great supernatural power locked away so no-one would use them. Sonic's staff was in there. Why would he need to be put in there? He could feel a terrible shiver working up his body._

"_You wouldn't be able to keep me in there, Core," hissed the intruder. "Either you would let me out, or my brother would."_

_Knuckles frowned. Sonic had a brother?_

"_And as for that echidna," he continued. "Get rid of it. Freeze it. Lock it away. Kill it. I don't care what you do, just get the damn thing out of my house. I have enough problems keeping my own roof in one place, I don't need an extra chore looking over some anomaly from the third world just because the locals are scared of him."_

"_This is beginning to sound a great deal like another conversation we had not too many years ago," quipped the Director._

"_Answer me!"_

"_I gave Knuckles to you for the sake of his own safety, Sonic, and that is not going to change."_

"_Safety? Have you lost your mind?"_

"_I shouldn't have to remind you of the constant threat to not only his freedom, but yours as well, Sonic. Tails also. The I.S.C.C. still has a sharp eye on the three of you and I have no desire to open any of you to the possibility of falling under Felis' command."_

"_That whack-job? What would he do with that wussy redhead?"_

"_You've lived with him, Sonic. You tell me."_

_There was a spell of silence. Knuckles was glued to the wood of the door. Much of what was being passed behind the walls didn't really mean anything to him. Who was Felis? What was the I.S.C.C.? His brain was burning with questions._

_What did all of this have to do with him? A simple echidna?_

_Sonic's voice had taken a new, darker tone. "He's too much of a threat to be kept within my walls. Give him to someone else. I can't help him. And he most certainly can't help himself."_

"_I can't do that, Sonic."_

"_Why not, for Gods' sake?" He could hear the creature pacing. "I have enough trouble keeping the dead under my home dead. That echidna is a menace! They are drawn to him like a bloody magnet! I don't have the energy to put up with this! If that thing does not get shipped far away from my property then what will happen will make last month's little escapade seem like a cakewalk! Send him back to the Canyons if you have to!"_

"_I can't do that--"_

"_Felis won't find him there."_

"_That's not the point. The Canyons are not safe for him. Why else do you think he was brought here?"_

"_Because his idiot groupies are superstitious."_

"_Sonic, there are more chances of an undead…"_

_Knuckles pulled away. His stomach was churning. He didn't understand anything of what was being passed between the two of them, and he didn't want to hear any more. He stood up and started for 'home', certain now that he would never be able to leave the company of the blue power-keg._

He still couldn't unravel the conversation he had overheard that day. It bothered him even now. He wondered if he should have stayed longer, and listened. He had returned to the house quickly afterward. It wasn't too much longer that Sonic came back as well, oddly quiet and brooding. The blue hog had passed him an odd look before shutting himself away in his massive room for the remainder of the day.

Funny enough, hardly two months after the incident, Shadow had come into the picture. The fit Sonic had thrown had been rather amusing, on a diabolical level. The black and red hedgehog had then left, but returned yet again that same year, for Christmas. He had gained permanent house resident status from that point onwards. Sonic was beet red for a whole week afterwards.

Knuckles kept walking, unsure of what else to do.

Even after what felt to be hours of walking, all he could see was eggs, eggs, and more eggs. Their height prevented him from seeing any further than the next nearest oval form. Every step he took was accompanied by a resounding squishing noise, courtesy of the strange skin-like film that grew all over the objects and spread about the floor. Some of the eggs, he had begun to notice, seemed to almost be _breathing_. Occasionally he would hear the distinct sound of someone, or something, taking a long, deep breath. He had found one of the ova which seemed to be the source of these sounds. The thing's shell, if shell it was, seemed to be expanding and deflating in time with the noises, like a set of lungs. He had bade a hasty getaway afterwards, unnerved by the find.

Unfortunately, the farther he went, the more common the occurrence became. The sound didn't so much become louder as more heavy and abundant. It was starting to creep him out. He was beginning to wonder if these were really eggs after all.

The constant oppression of the dark all around him didn't lift in the slightest despite the biolight-show coming from the infinite scape of the massive living objects. As he walked the red echidna began to notice that whatever was the source of the glow was beginning to coat his fur. The mist was up to his waist, and upon lifting a leg he found that his scarlet hairs were steadily turning a bluish colour, casting their own unreal light. Some flecks were spotting his upper half, his chest already dotted with the stuff. He brushed at the substance periodically, but eventually just left the dusting as it was. Every stroke of his gloves smeared the residue all over.

So now he was slowly turning into the next generation of fake nuclear zombie. He made a noise to himself and kept going.

A new sound drifted from the immobile crowd. Knuckles stopped where he was, listening. The noise didn't return. Shrugging he returned his attention to escape.

It wasn't long before the sound returned, slightly louder.

Internally beaten as he was, Knuckles was in no mood to run into something perilous to his health. He moved faster, pot firmly in his grasp. The third time the noise came, it was much, much closer. It sounded like some kind of beast. He cast glances all about him, the fog and the darkness obscuring most of his surroundings.

A horrible gurgling hiss emanated from ahead of him. Faster than he could blink a fleshy tube thicker than he was came winding out from between the eggs at an incredible speed. The echidna gasped as the thing ploughed into him, sending him flying through the air. His only defence was sent careening upwards, where it was caught by the worm-like thing in a brief flash of silver. He slid on the wet ground on his back, skidding to a halt only when his head collided with something soft. With the world spinning violently around him he tried to levy himself back onto his legs. Before he could properly question what just happened, a new growl sounded over top of him. A glob of something abnormally warm and wet landed squarely on his pointed head. The stuff flowed down the sides of his cranium like slime and had the same consistency.

He angled his gaze upwards as the aggressive growl sounded a second time. Knuckles couldn't believe his eyes.

A segmented figure towered above him by storeys, looking down on him through an eyeless face dominated by a circular mouth filled with undulating serrated teeth. Fleshy barbs protruded all over the brownish skin in a set pattern. The gigantic worm roared at the scarlet echidna obnoxiously.

Regaining his senses Knuckles ran for his life. Seeing the mammal flee the massive creature shook its mass and spat out a thick tongue-like muscle towards the escapee. The appendage, almost identical to the one that had assaulted him first, wound around the glowing echidna quicker than lighting and promptly hoisted him from the ground.

The fighter rose into the air shrieking as the eggs shrank beneath him. As he rose he could see several of the worm-like beings rising up from beneath the collection of eggs as well in response to his racket, hissing and spitting. One of them was waving its tongue about in an awkward fashion, something metallic in its grasp.

His captor roared at him, the accompanying wind was rank and sent his head spinning.

Knuckles didn't have any time to react when the thing retracted its tongue, and swallowed him whole.

* * *


End file.
